Scars of Mirrodin Combos

With the release of a new set imminent, the web has been abuzz with spoilers and the wheels are churning in the heads of all Magic the Gathering players.  While I have seen a lot of interesting combos (and ridiculous one-offs), there are some pairings in the set that seem to have been thrown to the wayside, ignored while collecters and players marvel at Mox pretenders and the return of Elspeth.  The following are a few pairings I plan to exploit.

Venser, the Sojourner and Contagion Engine


Of course, pairing almost any card with a PW is going to look impressive, but this one stands out.  Once Venser is on the field, you can use his +2 ability to trigger the Contagion Engine's "enter the battlefield" ability, debilitating all of an enemies creatures.  After throwing a -1/-1 counter on their creatures, proliferate twice further devastating their forces.  Chances are throwing three -1/-1 counters on everything is going to result in some casualties.  As an added bonus, you can also beef up your PW, increase poison counters, +1/+1 counters, the possibilities are endless.  The only downside is the Contagion Engine can't target more than one player at a time.  Oh well, you might have to wait an extra turn if you're playing multi player.

Etched Champion and Grand Architect


Metalcraft looks to be a pretty powerful mechanic.  Once you get things rolling, the power and effectiveness of you creatures increasing substantially so long as you have the minimum of three artifacts on the field.  The Etched Champion gains the fantastic bonus of having protection from all colors, making him unblockable by everything with the exception of colorless creatures.  While the Eldrazi are fresh in every one's minds (and binders) my guess is the Mirrodin block will lead a lot of you opponents to play artifacts in their decks.  You can work around their colorless artifact defenders by having the Grand Architect turn their artifacts into blue creatures, making them ineligible to block your Etched Champion. 

Auriok Sunchaser and Accorder's Shield

Time for a cheap and easy combo.  This involves two commons, so it should be readily available to most players in addition to having an incredibly low casting cost for the finished product.  Metalcraft makes the Auriok Sunchaser a 3/3 flyer while the Accorder's Shield adds +0/+3 and vigilance.  The end result is a 3/6 flyer with vigilance for a measley four colorless mana and one white.  This is an easy combo to splash other colors with and grants you bargain bin angel.  You shouldn't ignore the idea of testing out a play set of both of these.  Your opponents certainly won't ignore them when they hit the field ready to attack AND block for you.
- Ryan