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The Top 11 Combos and Interactions From Ravnica Allegiance Limited


Wizards of the Coast

In my last two articles, I picked out a bunch of sweet cards from Magic: the Gathering’s latest set, Ravnica Allegiance, that I thought would see play in the new Standard format. Since the set dropped, we’ve seen a ton of new archetypes and strategies emerge from Magic Online Competitive League results and the Star City Games Indianapolis Open Weekend held on January 26. 

I for one am excited to playtest and tune the different lists built around Hero of Precinct One. I totally slept on this card when I went through the set, but players like Pro Tour Champion Wyatt Darby have shown early on how strong the two drop is when combined with the improved mana and critical mass of multicolored spells that Ravnica Allegiance has given us.

The set hasn’t just contributed a lot of new cards to Standard. It’s also been a blast to draft! It looks so far like all five new guilds are playable, with good mana fixing in Gates and Lockets to splash powerful bombs and removal. The set is also packed with tons of subtle synergies and interactions, both within the guilds and between cards of guilds that share a color, like Simic and Gruul.

In this list, I’ll share some of my favorite interactions and two-card combos that will make playing Ravnica Allegiance Limitedmore fun and that could give you an edge in your next match. Some of these are interactions that don’t require a lot of effort or luck to put together, while others reward you for building your deck a certain way or adjusting your pick order during the draft.

  1. Hero of Precinct One and Hybrid Mana Cards

    I’ll start off with one of my favorite cards in the set. While this interaction may be obvious to players familiar with the rules, I just want to make sure that newer drafters also know how to get the most out of Hero of Precinct One’s powerful ability.

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    Cards with hybrid mana costs count as multicolored spells and will give you a 1/1 Human token with Hero in play. Three cycles of spells have hybrid mana costs in Ravnica Allegiance. First, there’s one common creature from each guild that can be cast using either of the guild’s colors (Vizkopa Vampire, Senate Griffin, etc.). There are also two sets of split cards in rare and uncommon, the cheaper sides of which feature hybrid mana in their costs. These include Consecrate in Consecrate//Consume and Warrant in Warrant//Warden.

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    If I picked up a Hero of Precinct One early in the draft, I would prioritize the common creatures and uncommon split cards more than usual. Drafting these hybrid creatures also helps you stay open; for example, white decks can play both Senate Griffin and Vizkopa Vampire regardless of whether you’re playing Azorius or Orzhov. I would also consider picking up some split cards even if I didn’t have a way to cast the more expensive side of the card. I might want to draft Depose//Deploy even if I were drafting Orzhov, because Depose is decent on its own and quite good with Hero.

    Hero would be especially good in a deck like the 4 or 5-color Gates archetype that can play several different split cards and hybrid mana creatures. But even in plain Orzhov or Azorius, prioritizing gold cards will pay you off heavily.

  2. Combine Guildmage and Sharktocrab

    Most of the guildmages in Guilds of Ravnica and Ravnica Allegiance are decent two drops that help advance your guild’s game plan, but aren’t usually crucial to your deck’s success. Conclave Guildmage, for example, could take over the late game with its token generating ability, but it cost so much to do that the game was often over or it was removed before making an impact.

    Combine Guildmage, however, can supercharge any Simic deck with its cheap and synergistic abilities. On its own, it doesn’t do all that much, unlike more self-sufficient guildmages like Azorius’. But it more than makes up for this by generating incredible value with the Adapt creatures that care about having counters placed on them, like Sharktocrab.

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    Sharkotcrab’s key interaction with Combine Guildmage the 4/4’s second ability triggers any time it gets a +1/+1 counter, not just when you activate its Adapt ability. This means that having these two creatures in play alongside creatures with counters on them will eventually break through any board stall, with the Guildmage’s second ability letting you lock an opponent’s creature down each turn and making your Sharktocrab huge. The Guildmage even helps you out if your hand is light on Adapt creatures, with its first ability helping you get that crucial first +1/+1 counter on a creature entering the battlefield to get the value train rolling.

    Combine Guildmage’s abilities scale in power with the number of counters-matter creatures you have in play, including rares Benthic Biomancer and Incubation Druid. Biomancer’s cheap Adapt cost allows you to activate it every turn to get a loot, before using the Guildmage to move the counter to a creature who could use it better, like the Sharktocrab.

  3. Bloodmist Infiltrator and Afterlife Creatures

    Boards tend to get pretty clogged up in Ravnica Allegiance Draft, due in part to the Afterlife ability and to the many creatures with toughness greater than their power. One key to the format, then, is to find ways to break board stalls that don’t involve unbeatable bombs or a lot of premium removal.

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    I’ve had success pushing damage through with the simple combo of Bloodmist Infiltrator and creatures with Afterlife. You’re not going to get your opponents down from 20 to 0 very often with this strategy, but sacrificing value creatures to the 3/1 Vampire can often get the final 6 or 9 points of damage in. This is especially true in the very late game against Orzhov or Azorius, when both the air and ground are stalled and both players have used most of their removal spells.

    Even if sacrificing some of your creatures puts you at a slight disadvantage on board, you can always chump block with your spirit tokens to stay ahead in the race. Of course, if the Infiltrator meets its demise before killing your opponent, you could be in major trouble, but it’s unclear whether you would have won that game anyway.

    While this combo can help you win some games, Bloodmist Infiltrator is still has pretty mediocre stats, so you don’t really want more than 1 or 2 of these in your black decks. In fact, I often see the card come back around the table, so just keep this combo in mind when looking for additional win conditions in your black decks.

  4. Ill-Gotten Inheritance and Spectacle Cards

    Ill-Gotten Inheritance’s abilities and flavor may make it look like an Orzhov card, but it actually does just as much, and possibly more, in aggressive Rakdos decks.

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    That’s because the card, like Spear Spewer, ensures that your Spectacle cards are activated every turn it’s in play. This interaction can power Rakdos decks up significantly, with cards like Skewer the Critics, Blade Juggler, and Light up the Stage becoming hyper-efficient, undercosted spells.

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    And while Spear Spewer is the preferred option due to its cost, Ill-Gotten Inheritance can also play the role of an effective “finisher” in low-curve Black-Red decks that can do a lot of early damage but will likely fall behind as the opponent stabilizes behind removal spells and big creatures. The enchantment also helps mitigate against flood, giving you something to do with your mana late in the game.

    Having said that, Rakdos decks probably want just one copy of this card, as you still want your deck to contain mostly cheap creatures and removal spells.

  5. Basilica Bell-Haunt and Justiciar’s Portal

    Basilica Bell-Haunt is a premium uncommon that will pull its (spectral and therefore likely nonexistent) weight in any Orzhov deck. It’s a built-in two-for-one, making your opponent discard a card from their hand and also eventually demanding a removal spell or trading in combat.

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    Meanwhile, Justiciar’s Portal is a late pick that rarely, if ever, makes it into white decks. It’s at its best when saving a creature from a removal spell, or “flickering” creatures with strong enter-the-battlefield (ETB) effects, like the Bell-Haunt. It can also target a tapped creature after your opponent declares attackers, letting you ambush them with a First-striking blocker.

    Interestingly, besides the Bell-Haunt and 5-mana 3/3 flier Grasping Thrull, Orzhov doesn’t have that many options for good ETB effects, because many of their creatures generate value when dying instead. Still, if you’re playing a grindy Orzhov deck with Bell-Haunt and a few other targets like the Thrull and Blade Juggler, you may want to play one Justiciar’s Portal for its versatility.

    The best time for the Bell-Haunt-Portal combo is late in the game, when your opponent is empty-handed. You should wait until your opponent’s draw step, then cast Portal before they move to their main phase. Your Bell-Haunt will re-enter the battlefield and make your opponent discard the card they just drew, unless it turns out to be an instant.

    It’s not a devastating combo by any means, but gaining tiny edges like one instant-speed discard effect and gaining 3 life in a grindy game can ultimately provide you with a path to victory.

  6. Goblin Gathering and Cavalcade of Calamity

    Goblin Gathering is a cute common that scales in power with the number of copies you draft. The first Gathering isn’t much of a party, but if you can pick up 3 or more in an aggressive Rakdos deck, you may be able to overwhelm your opponent with a swarm of Goblins before they know what hit them.

    I wouldn’t recommend going all-in on this strategy, but if you do find yourself with a couple of Gatherings early on in the draft, then you should definitely look out for other cards that will help turn your party into a full-on felony committed against your opponent.

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    The card that makes for the best combo with multiple Goblin Gatherings is Cavalcade of Calamity, an enchantment that nobody at the draft table will want besides the Goblin gatherer. If you pick up a copy or two of Cavalcade, you can turn your Goblins into attackers well-suited for a suicide mission.

    Where it really gets crazy is if you also manage to pick up another junky card late that goes very late in the draft, Burn Bright. All of a sudden, your bajillion useless 1/1s transform into a horde of 3/1 attackers that also ping your opponent for an additional damage!

    Again, this strategy isn’t going to get you from Bronze to Platinum on Arena, but finding ways to salvage drafts that started poorly using underplayed strategies is an important skill for any Limited grinder. It’s also worth noting that the Goblin tokens you get from Gathering also work well with other, better cards, including the previously mentioned Bloodmist Infiltrator and premier Rakdos two drop Fireblade Artist.

  7. Azorius Knight-Arbiter and Angelic Exaltation

    Back to the the topic of breaking through a board stall, premium guild common Azorius Knight-Arbiter can get damage through all on his own. His stats aren’t the most impressive for 5 mana, but his unblockability, vigilance, and high toughness all make for a great curve-topper in Azorius decks.

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    It’s a card that you’re happy to draft early and play as many copies of as you can get, but the Knight-Arbiter goes from good to great when paired with the white uncommon enchantment, Angelic Exaltation. With just three creatures in play, including the Knight, you can get in for a whopping 5 unblockable damage per turn!

    It’s true that with enough creatures on your side Exaltation can turn the smallest Spirit into a must-answer threat, but pairing it with a Vigilant and unblockable creature means your opponent can’t chump block. And notably, you’ll still have the Knight back on defense to shut down any attempts at racing.

  8. Gatebreaker Ram and Growth Spiral

    It didn’t take long for drafters to figure out that the 4 or 5 color gates deck is one of the best archetypes in Ravnica Allegiance Limited. The deck works for two reasons: first, each Allegiance pack, as with Guilds of Ravnica, has a Gate replacing the usual basic land. Second, the payoffs for drafting Gates are excellent in this set.

    I’ve seen Archway Angels gain 12 or more life; I’ve seen a Gate Colossus come down on turn 4 (thanks to Growth Spiral); and I’ve had my board of 5 creatures wiped away by a huge Gates Ablaze. When the deck comes together with the right mix of Gates and payoffs, it feels unbeatable.

    Gatebreaker Ram is yet another great payoff for the deck. it can come down as a 4/4 with Trample and Vigilance as early as turn 3 without too much effort during the draft.

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    On its own, it’s already tough to block. If you drafted enough Gates and played it on turn 3, it will almost certainly be the biggest creature on the battlefield. When it attacks on subsequent turns, your opponent should feel forced to block it with two creatures if they don’t have a removal spell. And that’s where the  simple combo with Growth Spiral comes in.

    If you have a Gate in your hand when you attack with the Ram, you can cast Spiral, play the Gate, and make the Ram bigger than your opponent expected it to be. For example, they may have put only 5 total power in front of your 5/5 Ram, so the additional +1/+1 granted by the instant Gate results in a blowout in your favor.

    Growth Spiral is already a card you want to play a few copies of in your Gates deck. So if you find yourself in the situation I described above and your opponent doesn’t play around the combo, they’ll be in a very baaa spot.

  9. High Alert and Tower Defense

    This janktastic three-color combo involving a dubious build-around enchantment and a card that will often go last in draft packs was showcased by none other than Luis Scott-Vargas in one of his first Arena drafts on Twitch.

    With High Alert in play, Defenders and other creatures with high toughness like Wall of Lost Thoughts, Concordia Pegasus, and Senate Courier get in for a lot of damage. The fact that the enchantment keeps your creatures’ toughness the same means that they’ll also be extremely difficult to trade with in combat. How do you block a 4/4 Senate Courier on turn 4?

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    Hilariously, casting Tower Defense after sticking a High Alert makes for a two mana spell that gives your creatures what amounts to +5/+5 at instant speed! Playing a few and high-toughness creatures and pulling this combo off will surely kill your opponent if they didn’t see it coming. If it doesn’t, it will at least decimate their board if they attempted to make profitable blocks.

    Fortunately for players who hate being killed by Walls, this combo involves two uncommons, three colors, and drafting a bunch of creatures that are mediocre at best without High Alert in play. But if your opponent plays the enchantment off two Plains and a Simic Guildgate, you had better be prepared.

  10. Bolrac-Clan Crusher and Simic Adapt Creatures

    This is another combo that spans three colors, but it’s better because it involves creatures that are actually good on their own. Bolrac-Clan Crusher looks like a great card in Gruul decks, where his beefy stats and synergy with +1/+1 counters from Riot can help deal a lot of damage. On the other hand, Riot creatures usually don’t get more than one counter placed on them during a game, and you might prefer to give your creatures haste instead of the additional power and toughness.

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    Where he really shines is in a deck filled with Adapt creatures, especially ones like Sharktocrab and Benthic Biomancer that want counters put on them more than once. As a splashed card in a Simic deck, Bolrac-Clan Crusher will find ample opportunities to spray damage around without even attacking. For example, for only two mana a turn, you can deal two damage to any target with the Crusher while also getting a loot activation from the Biomancer’s second ability.

    Even when paired with common Adapt creatures like Sauroform Hybrid, the Crusher can take over a stalled board by growing the 2/2 then turning the counters into damage.

  11. Dagger Caster and Bladebrand

    Dagger Caster and Bladebrand are hands down the best combo in Ravnica Allegiance Limited. Many of the previous interactions and synergies in this article will generate a small amount of value or advantage for you. This combo, by comparison, will usually wipe your opponent’s board completely and leave you up a ⅔ and a card from Bladebrand. It also requires only two colors to play, and it fits neatly into Rakdos’ game plan of pressuring the opponent early and clearing blockers to get in for lethal.

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    Because the black instant is a common and not a particularly early pick, you should draft Dagger Caster highly and lean towards building an aggressive Rakdos deck if you can. Even if you end up without a copy of Bladebrand, Dagger Caster is a great card that will mop up Afterlife Spirit tokens, snipe other 1-toughness creatures, and even activate Spectacle if you have enough mana to cast two spells in a turn.

    Just remember: for the combo to work, you need to have your Dagger Caster resolve, then cast Bladebrand on it while the creature’s trigger is on the stack. On Arena, you can make sure it’s done right by going into full control mode. Be mindful, too, of your opponent’s open mana and whether they can disrupt the combo. If they can’t you’re almost guaranteed to win. 

     

    That’s all for now, and I hope you enjoyed reading about my favorite combos from Ravnica Allegiance. I’m sure I’ve missed some great ones, so please let us know what interactions have been winning you games in the comments section.

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