I am not sure if this is necessarily the case anymore but when I started playing Magic: The Gathering players started from humble beginnings with limited card pools. It wasn't unusual for people you play against to be using 5 color 150 card decks that consisted of their his or her entire collection. Because of this phenomena their didn't seem to be much card and deck synergy from most players beyond Keldon Warlord and the other 6 creatures that person had in play.
I too might have turned out to be another player like this had it not been for a lucky pull from my revised sealed deck/tournament pack and three booster packs that made up my initial magic collection. I was fortunate enough to pull both a Thicket Basilisk and a Lure in my collection of cards. In terms of modern magic this could hardly even be considered a combo. More modern cards like Turntimber Basilisk or even Stone-Tongue Basilisk have a little bit of this combo built into a single card. Back in the early days of magic though this was super secret tech and a great way to get card advantage over an opponent (not that we knew what that was back then mind you).
After the first time I cleared the board using this combo my opponents were stunned. My 2/4, Deathtouch for 5 become the bane of all the other local players. My green/white/red deck become feared by my opponent. Anytime I would play the basilisk I would just leave it on the sidelines. It would never attack or never block to avoid dying to Giant Growth or Lightning bolt. It would sit waiting for me to draw my lure as it waged psychological warfare against my enemies. My opponents knew that their creatures' days were numbered.
Overall, I feel lucky that my first magic cards had some synergy together. It allowed me to take a serious look at the game that made me develop more as a Johnny/Spike instead of being a Timmy who stacked his deck with Craw Wurms. It was the start that led me into playing competitive magic as well as made me focus more on maximizing my deck choices. It also lead me down a path where I would eventually even scoff at the my original combo. Sometimes I wonder what kind of magic player I would have turned out to be if that lure would have been a wanderlust instead . I can honestly say I am glad I don't know.
What was your first combo? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
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My first combo was Thicket Basilisk and Lure as well. I still have the deck I made like 15 years ago. I even slapped in a few Regenerates and Sengir Vampires for an alternate win condition. Those were the days, huh?
ReplyDeleteIt certainly was a simpler time. It only took 2 trips to the local card shop to really change my game. After that I was dropping third turn shivan dragons with tinder walls and orcish lumberjacks backed up by kird apes. It was certainly a much better deck and had some good synergy of its own.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time I sometimes miss the games where you would have 10 creatures out on each side in play and you dragged out the game by letting your opponent twist in the wind at one life. He knew that the only reason he was alive was because he was at your mercy. I can honestly say I have never played a game like that since I went competitive as the risk of a stray fireball was enough to make you want to pull in the win right away.
I played a little back in the "good old days" but not enough to remember anything about what I played. When I started back up again right around time spiral and 10th edition. My first combo/synergy was Cutthroat il-Dal + Oblivion Crown. It was a great discovery for me.
ReplyDeleteSince then my combos have been sillier (swamp mosquito + temporal isolation) or more synergistic (norin the wary + obsidian battle-axe + hamletback goliath = a very big goliath)
I like the swamp mosquito combo. I remember one of my early decks was a poison counter deck using Land Leeches, Marsh Viper, and some other green creature from visions whose name is escaping me now. That was a fun deck to play every now and then for sure.
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