Now we get to the fun part, winning the game! We usually win the game through one of several "mythals" or infinite combos that we can put together, though we can sometimes score a tempo win if it works for us (more on that later). Before getting into the combos, however, it is important to say that you shouldn't rush to them. Time is usually on our side here. We are not playing a Cedh deck and we have plenty of ways to disrupt our opponents as long as all of their attention isn't on us, which it will be if we try to combo out too early. The advantage of playing control in commander is that you can often be the "helpful" player who provides the service of slowing down the archenemy at the table who is trying to rush a win. This keeps the other players' attention off of us so that we can be putting together our win in the shadows. The downside of playing control in commander is that if you try to control everyone you will usually fail, and if they can see the win coming they will try to stop it. As such, take your time. Enjoy playing control until there are few ways to stop you and then go for it in the late game. If those other fools at the table want to make our work easier by destroying eachother while we plot in the shadows, all the better! With that said, it is time to introduce the "mythals" and their various versions.
1) The Timewarp Dweomer (School of Chronomancy)
This win con can be executed many different ways, but in all versions is essentially an infinite turn combo. By taking infinite turns we can insure that we can lock our opponents out of playing, and slowly kill them with damage or another combo, as we'll essentially be able to draw our deck and play all of our lands. This is probably the most well-known way to win with Inalla, although the first version of this is perhaps more well-known than the second. Let's talk about each way we might do this.
a) Wanderwine Prophets
The most well-known version of this is just casting Wanderwine Prophets onto an empty board and copying it with Inalla's ability. Importantly, though Prophets costs six to cast, we'll need at least eight mana available for it to stick around to another turn, and more if we want it to be resilient to any instant speed removal our opponents might point at us. We'll also need to have at least one opponent with no blockers for the combo to succeed. If this is not the case, Cryptic Command or Cyclonic Rift on our opponent's end step right before our turn will ensure that the way is clear. In essence, when Prophets enters the battelfield, we'll pay the mana to make a token copy, and the champion ability of both we'll trigger. We'll resolve the token's ability first and set the token as the champion for the original, thus putting it into exile until end of turn where it is safe from harm. Since the token has haste, we'll then attack with it, and, when we do damage to our opponent, we'll get an extra turn. Then, on our end step, the token will be sacrificed and the original will return to the battlefield from exile, at which point we'll repeat what we did before. The token will now stay around till our next turn, where we can repeat the process until our opponents are all dead. Importantly, our opponents will probably try to remove the token Prophets with a Swords to Plowshares and the like, but if they don't do it properly and we have extra mana their efforts will fail. If they try to do so during our first main phase, for instance, the original will return and we can just make repeat the process by spending one mana and win with the combo. To stop us they'd have to use their removal either when we are first resolving the champion trigger, or during combat. In the latter case we can still save Prophets by just copying Prophets again with new token, but the combo will be disrupted as we won't be able to damage that turn. Don't let your opponents know this though, and take advantage of it if they misplay!
b) Timestream Navigator
This version of the timewarp win is less well known, but arguably more resilient. In order to win with it you'll need Timestream Navigator and some way to recur it. The ideal way is with Cloudstone Curio since it involves no additional mana, though if you have the resources you could use any one of our recursion pieces. You'll also need to have had at least ten permanents on the battlefield at some time in the game in order to activate the city's blessing. As long as blessing is active, you simply need to cast Navigator and copy it with Inalla's ability. Since the token has haste, you'll be able to immediately tap it four two and two blue to take another turn. The token will then be "shuffled into your library," while you'll make sure to use Curio or another method to return it to your hand. On the next turn then, which will be yours, simply rinse and repeat! This is arguably a stronger combo than Prophets for classic edh because it doesn't require your opponents to be open to attack and costs fewer mana.
2) The Ritual of Endless Sacrifice (School of Necromancy)
While less well-known than the infinite turn combo win, this is nonetheless the most straightforward way to win and one of the hardest to disrupt. It's the easy-button win for this deck and by far my favorite way to win the game, other than the rare tempo win. Basically, we're pulling an infinite combo using sacrifice shenanigans that will allow us to generate infinite hasty wizard tokens to win the game!
a) Bloodline Necromancer and Ashnod's Altar
With Ashnod's Altar on the field, cast and copy Bloodline Necromancer. The ability of both the original and the token to return a creature from the graveyard to the battlefield will go on the stack. Order the triggers so that the token trigger resolves first then, before it resolves, as a free action (which can't be responded to) sacrifice the original necromancer to Ashnod's Altar gaining two colorless mana. Then let the trigger resolve and bring the original back and copy it with one of the mana you gained from sacrificing it to make a second token. Before the trigger for this second token resolves sac the original again for another two mana and repeat till you have as many token copies of Bloodline Necromancer that you need to kill the table. Since these tokens have haste, simply attack everyone for lethal and win the game! While targeting Necromancer or the token copy with removal is doomed to failure, your opponents can stop you by targeting Ashnod's Altar with instant speed removal at the right time or by casting an instant speed board wipe during your attack phase, so if you are concerned about this and can afford to hold up mana for a counterspell to protect the win, by all means do so! Its also worth mentioning that while its tempting to cast Ashnod's Altar earlier to use as a ramp piece, it is definitely a target for removal due to its prevalence in many combos, and hence I tend to hold it in reserve till I know I can use it to win.
Ruthless Technomancer is a great addition to the deck because it is effectively self saccing with Inalla, and it can make treasure tokens to help power its own ability. To do this, we'll need Mana Echoes on the field and at least 6 mana including two , or five mana with one black and another expendable artifact that we soon will no longer need. Cast and copy the technomancer, and sacrifice the original to the tokens ability. Mana echoes will net us at least from the two wizards we have (or much more if we have other wizards on the board), and we'll get two treasure tokens. We can then pay two of the colorless and the extra to sacrifice the two treasure tokens, or two of the colorless and a treasure token for the to sac the other treasure token and another artifact to bring the original back, which you will then copy with from your floating mana. This time you'll sac both for four treasures and . Use two of the colorless and one of the treasure tokens to sac two of the treasure tokens to bring back the original again, which you will copy with a floating colorless. This time we will only sacrifice the original again for two tokens (leaving behind a second hasty wizard which we can attack with), and will use of the floating and a treasure token to sac the other two treasure tokens to bring back the technomancer again. We'll the continue to alternate between having them sac each other and only saccing one of them until we have infinite hasty technomancers and infinite colorless mana. From this point we can either use Comet Storm if we have it and fear an Arachnogenesis or Inkshield from our opponent, or can just attack with the tokens for the win if we don't have the card or are afraid of a card:Defelecting Palm.
It should be noted here that while the second combo could feasibly come out earlier than the first, the first is harder to disrupt since your sacrificing is a free action which cannot be responded to, whereas a well-placed Stifle could ruin your fun since it depends on triggered abilities which use the stack.
3) The Transported Wizard (School of Replication)
If you recognize the reference to "the transported man," then clearly you have see The Prestige! In the film, a magician played by Hugh Jackman commissions a device from Nikola Tesla to transport creatures across the stage, only to discover that it duplicates the creature instead! In short, with this combo, we are going to create infinite token wizards and find some way to use these wizards to win. Unlike the prior combos, there are many, many ways to win with this combo, and as such it will be hard for our opponents to realize what we are doing, and even a Supreme Inquisitor would have a hard time stripping the win conditions from our library! We'll go through the various interations below, but most of them involve Dualcaster Mage or Naru Meha, Master Wizard and Rite of Replication or Ghostly Flicker.
These combos involve casting Rite of Replication for its regular cost targeting another creature you control, then flashing in Dualcaster Mage and copying Rite while it is on the stack. You then allow it to resolve targeting Dualcaster Mage, and repeat until you have as many copies of Dualcaster Mage as you need to win. Of course, these token copies will be permanent, unlike the ones you make with Inalla, but also will have summoning sickness, so you need to win in one of the following ways.
i. Endless Wizards
If you are able to do the combo on your opponent's end step before your turn because of Leyline of Anticipation, then you can simply untap on your turn (giving you lots of mana for counterspells should your opponents decide to resist) and swing with your wizards for the win.
ii. The Firestorm
If Ashnod's Altar is on the battlefield, you can simply sac them all for to the altar for as much mana as you need and then cast a massive Comet Storm to kill the table and win the game.
iii. The Mind Wipe
This is a favorite one, because they'll never see it coming! If Supreme Inquisitor is on the battlefield, you can simply tap as many wizards as you need to exile each player's library. When its their turn they'll be unable to draw and lose the game! Its like a mill win without the mill which those lousy Eldrazi can't spoil!
iv. The Drawing
If Azami, Lady of Scrolls is on the board, we can simply tap all of our wizard tokens to draw our deck. Once we have drawn our deck, we'll almost certainly have the cards to win in another way in this guide provided we have the mana!
v. The Lifedrain
Finally, if Inalla, Archmage Ritualist herself is on the battlefield, we can simply tap our endless wizards to drain our opponents out. This is the one case where we will definitely be happy to hard cast her!
These combos involve casting Ghostly Flicker targeting two things on the battlefield, then flashing in either Dualcaster Mage or Naru Meha, Master Wizard, and targeting whichever of these used and a land or mana rock. When it resolves, you'll get mana untapped and another ETB for your mage of choice which will again target Ghostly Flicker. You can do this as many times as you want to get as much mana as you want in whatever colors you need. In the case of Dualcaster Mage this combo wins on its own as you can use the land triggers to use Inalla's ability to make infinite hasty wizards, and we win by swinging with them as in Endless Wizards above (without the need to flash toe combo out) or the Ritual of Endless Sacrifice without the need for Ashnod's Altar. With card:Naru Mehan, Master Wizard we don't get to keep the wizard tokens, but do get infinite mana. Infinite mana doesn't win the game on its own however, and you won't have token copies of the spell in this case, so you'll need to win in one of the following ways.
i. The Firestorm
As above, you will win by using your endless mana to cast a massive Comet Storm to kill the table. The advantage here is that you won't need Ashnod's Altar on the board to do it!
ii. The Drawing
Once again, you are going to use your endless resources to draw your deck, this time using your endless mana and a massive casting of Gadwick, the Wizened. The advantage here is that since you have endless mana you'll also be able to cast your deck, ensuring that you win in whatever way you want!
We're in big mana territory here, but if we can afford to flash in Dualcaster or Naru Meha tergeting a kicked rite, we'll get five copies of our copymage of choice, and we can the point all five triggers back at our original kicked Rite. Once they resolve twenty-five more ETBs will go on the stack, which we can then point right back at the original rite Naru Meha works just as well in this case, because while the tokens will be immediately sacrificed due to her being legendary and all, the triggers will still go onto the stack, allowing us to get plenty of value off her.
i. Winning with Naru Meha
At this point if we have Dualcaster we could win in any of the ways that we could in the unkicked version, but we wouldn't have needed to kick it to get that result! That being said, with kicked rite we can now also win in all of these ways with Naru Meha as well, since we can end by creating endless tokens of another wizard when we finally target something other than Naru Meha herself, allowing us to sac them to altar for the Firestorm, attack as in Endless Wizards, exile our opponents libraries as in the Mindwipe, draw our deck as in the drawing, or drain out there life as in the Lifedrain. In addition to kicked Rite giving us these options with Naru Meha, we also get one other way to win as well.
ii. The Blight
There are few things more twisted than killing our opponents by choking them to death with their own lands. If Anathemancer is on the board, we can point our final kicked Rite of Replication spells at him, thus hitting them all for lethal. We can also sometimes do this without the copymages if their life is low enough and they have enough non-basic lands to finish the job, something which can be made easier if we can afford to copy our kicked Rite once with Sigil Tracer.
4) The Stasis (School of Abjuration)
Our final Way to win isn't really with a combo. Rather, its a tempo win by attacking with our wizards turn after turn while using our many control pieces described in the mid-game section to lock down our opponents from doing anything. This usually happens when most other players have been knocked out and its down to a one v. one. This isn't ideal as our main win condition because it usually relies on our opponents to kill each other till we are in the final two, but this often happens anyway and when it does, this can be a satisfying way to pull a win. The all stars at this point in the game are Galecaster Colossus, which can keep out opponent's board clear of non-land permanents, and Mistbind Clique, which can lock down their mana during their upkeep so that they have no chance to cast to recover. The most powerful way to use Mistbind Clique is in a combo with Ashnod's Altar. As with the Wanderwine Prophets combo, we copy the clique and have the token champion the original, and then do the same thing on our end step so that the token stays around. After that on our opponent's upkeep we can sac the token, copy the clique again, and keep their mana constantly locked down. That being said, I've often kept their board clear simply be recurring AEther Adept with Panharmonicon out, or by recurring Cyclonic Rift with Kess, Dissident Mage or Archaeomancer, all the while using Kess and tokens to chip away at my opponent's life until they are dead. We have a lot of all-star control pieces in this deck, and we are more than capable of completely shutting our final opponent down if they are foolish enough to be in the final two with us. This is never our main plan, but some of my most memorable games playing this deck have been by winning this way!
