Cauldron FamiliarCauldron Familiar | Art by Milivoj Ćeran

Magic: The Gathering players are famous for finding the shortest possible distance between “these cards are unplayable” and “sorry, you’re dead.” Combos help make that distance infinitesimal.

Some combos are obvious. Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle and Demonic ConsultationDemonic Consultation barely need an introduction at this point. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror BreakerKiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Zealous ConscriptsZealous Conscripts have sent so many tables packing that they should probably have matching luggage. Even Food ChainFood Chain has spent years wearing a giant neon sign that says, “Broken: Don’t Fix.”

These are not those combos.

These are the odd little contraptions hiding several tabs deep in Commander Spellbook, the sort of combos that appear in zero decks, one deck, or only a small handful of decks on EDHREC. Some are impractical. Some are fragile. Some require you to explain a rule interaction so strange that your opponents may briefly believe you are making it up. Others feature cards that you might have forgotten existed, or some long-overlooked synergy that seems too “out there” to employ.

In other words, they are perfect Commander nonsense. Let’s take a look at some of the most unusual Magic combos around.

Altaïr Ibn-La'AhadAltaïr Ibn-La'Ahad + Éomer, Marshal of RohanÉomer, Marshal of Rohan + Rukarumel, BiologistRukarumel, Biologist + Parallel LivesParallel Lives (In Zero Decks)

This one begins with a very important question: what if beloved rider of Rohan Éomer was secretly an Assassin?

With Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad on the battlefield, Éomer in the graveyard, and Rukarumel, Biologist naming Assassin, Altaïr can attack and bring Éomer back as a tapped and attacking token. Parallel Lives doubles that token, which is where the wheels come off in the best way possible.

Since both Éomer tokens are legendary, one of them hits the bin immediately due to the legend rule, triggering the surviving Éomer to untap your creatures and grant an additional combat phase. At the end of combat, Altaïr exiles the remaining token, setting the whole thing up to happen again next combat.

Rukarumel is not the only way to make the trick work, either. ConspiracyConspiracy, Arcane AdaptationArcane Adaptation, or other type-changing effects can make your entire creature suite wear the same fake mustache, so long as they make Éomer an Assassin for Altaïr’s purposes.

Is this efficient? No. Is it elegant? Also no. But there is something deeply funny about winning the game because a Lord of the Rings legend joined the Brotherhood, died to the legend rule, and accidentally created an endless combat-phase treadmill.

Atla Palani, Nest TenderAtla Palani, Nest Tender + Umbral Collar ZealotUmbral Collar Zealot + ConspiracyConspiracy (In Zero Decks)

We heard you like Eggs. Well, Atla Palani, Nest Tender turns dead Eggs into enormous problems. Usually, that means making actual Egg tokens and cracking them open for something terrifying (often Dinosaurs). This combo skips the breakfast menu and just makes everything an Egg instead.

With Conspiracy choosing Egg, Umbral Collar Zealot can sacrifice another creature, causing Atla to trigger because that creature died as an Egg. Atla then reveals cards from your library until you hit a creature and puts it onto the battlefield. Umbral Collar Zealot’s ability resolves, and you can keep repeating the process as long as there are creatures to flip into play.

This one gets much spicier with token generators, like Genesis ChamberGenesis Chamber, because sacrificing actual creatures from your deck is a fairly aggressive way to prove a point. Tokens let the deck keep feeding the engine without turning your whole creature suite into compost quite so quickly. Then, all you need is a haste-enabler to attack everyone for beaucoup damage.

Also, visualizing this combo is wonderful. Atla is standing there, waiting for Eggs to hatch, and Conspiracy is quietly insisting that everything is, in fact, an Egg. Birds? Eggs. Elves? Eggs. Eldrazi? Yup, they’re Eggs. It is deeply silly in the exact way Commander should be.

Time SieveTime Sieve + Academy ManufactorAcademy Manufactor + Azorius ChanceryAzorius Chancery + Tireless TrackerTireless Tracker + Primal VigorPrimal Vigor (In Zero Decks)

Time Sieve combos are usually artifact-heavy affairs that are fairly easy to spot. This one, however, asks a bounceland to do its best Black Lotus impression.

The setup is deliciously weird. With Academy Manufactor, Tireless Tracker, Primal Vigor, and Time Sieve on the battlefield, you play Azorius Chancery. The Chancery returns itself to your hand, while Tireless Tracker’s landfall trigger creates a Clue. Academy Manufactor turns that into a Clue, Food, and Treasure, and Primal Vigor doubles the whole batch. That gives you six artifact tokens, five of which get fed to Time Sieve for an extra turn. Since the Chancery is back in hand, you can do it all over again next turn.

Have you ever wanted more time to help you win the game? How about all the time in the world? That’s what this combo gives you.

The funniest part is that every individual card is already doing something relatively normal. Tireless Tracker likes lands. Academy Manufactor likes artifact tokens. Time Sieve likes eating artifacts. Azorius Chancery likes being annoying. Put them together with Primal Vigor, though, and suddenly the harmless little bounceland is personally responsible for ending the game.

MortuaryMortuary + The Reality ChipThe Reality Chip + Skirk ProspectorSkirk Prospector (In Zero Decks)

Skirk Prospector is already one of Magic’s great little Goblin crimes. It turns Goblins into red mana, which is exactly the kind of effect that starts out fair and ends with someone counting storm triggers on their fingers until they realize, yep, they’re dead.

This combo takes that familiar Goblin energy and runs it through a spooky sci-fi car wash. With Mortuary and The Reality Chip online, you sacrifice Skirk Prospector for one red mana. Mortuary, one of the most valuable cards from Stronghold, puts Prospector back on top of your library, and The Reality Chip lets you cast it from there. Since Prospector costs one red mana, the loop pays for itself forever.

By itself, this does not kill anyone, as it's just a goblin running in place. Nor is it one of the best Goblin combos ever. Still, it is strange in all the right ways. Mortuary is not exactly a format staple, The Reality Chip is usually treated as a niche value piece, and Skirk Prospector (one of the best Goblins for Commander) is somehow the adult in the room because it is the only card doing the thing everyone already expects it to do, which is go infinite somehow.

Now where did I put that GrapeshotGrapeshot?

Cauldron FamiliarCauldron Familiar + Ragost, Deft GastronautRagost, Deft Gastronaut + Weapons ManufacturingWeapons Manufacturing + Viscera SeerViscera Seer + Encroaching MycosynthEncroaching Mycosynth (In Zero Decks)

Cauldron Familiar has been annoying players for years, but this version of the Cat loop is not the usual Witch's OvenWitch's Oven routine. This one involves Munitions tokens, artifact-conversion nonsense, and Ragost, Deft Gastronaut turning everything into a Food token. The black cat one-drop must have gotten tired of eating kitchen scraps.

With Encroaching Mycosynth making all of your permanents artifacts, Cauldron Familiar entering the battlefield triggers Weapons Manufacturing, which creates a Munitions token. Ragost makes that Munitions token a Food. From there, Viscera Seer sacrifices Cauldron Familiar, and Cauldron Familiar returns by sacrificing the Munitions-Food. The Munitions token deals damage, the Cat drains each opponent, and the loop begins again.

This is a combo with a lot of moving parts, but at least the moving parts are memorable. A Cat dies. A Food-that-is-also-a-Munitions gets eaten. The table takes lots of damage. Everyone asks what Ragost does again. Sounds like Commander, baby!

Leonardo, Sewer SamuraiLeonardo, Sewer Samurai + TatterkiteTatterkite + Altar of DementiaAltar of Dementia + Ezzaroot ChannelerEzzaroot Channeler (In Zero Decks)

Tatterkite is one of those cards that feels like it was designed during a fever dream and then quietly left in a drawer for years. Not being able to place counters on creatures is usually just a line of trivia, but here that text makes it the star piece of this reanimating combo.

With Leonardo, Sewer Samurai, Ezzaroot Channeler, and Altar of Dementia on the battlefield, and Tatterkite in the graveyard, the combo requires that you have gained at least three life during the turn, so keep those RevitalizeRevitalizes handy.

That means the combination of Leo and Ezzaroot Channeler lets you cast Tatterkite from the graveyard for zero mana, and Tatterkite’s static ability prevents it from entering with a finality counter. Sacrifice it to Altar of Dementia, mill someone, then cast it again, rinse, and repeat until everyone but you is left without a library.

This is probably the most “judge, can you come here for a second?” combo on the list.

It also feels like a perfect example of why Commander remains so strange after all these years. A mostly forgotten artifact creature, a life-gain condition, a cost-reduction lifegain clause, and a Ninja Turtle legend walk into a game, and somehow the punchline is decking the table for the win.

Jeskai AscendancyJeskai Ascendancy + Haze of RageHaze of Rage + Selvala, Heart of the WildsSelvala, Heart of the Wilds (In One Deck)

Jeskai Ascendancy is one of those cards that always looks innocent until the third spell of the turn, at which point it starts glowing like a reactor core. Pairing it with Selvala, Heart of the Wilds already sounds suspicious. Adding Haze of Rage makes it wonderfully unhinged.

The loop starts with Selvala tapping for mana based on the greatest power among creatures you control. You cast Haze of Rage with buyback, triggering Jeskai Ascendancy to pump and untap your creatures while also looting. Haze of Rage’s storm copies make your creatures even bigger, which means Selvala taps for more mana the next time around. Since Haze of Rage returns to your hand, the loop keeps escalating.

This one actually looks like it should see more play, mostly because all three cards have real text boxes outside the combo. Selvala makes absurd mana. Jeskai Ascendancy has been breaking things since Khans of Tarkir. Haze of Rage is goofy, but buyback and storm are two mechanics that should never be left alone in the same room.

The downside is obvious: this is a three-color-plus-green build-around pile that asks you to have the right setup and not die while doing your little storm dance. Still, when it works, it wins with the grace of an intricately annoying Rube Goldberg machine.

Patron of the MoonPatron of the Moon + Uyo, Silent ProphetUyo, Silent Prophet + Channel the SunsChannel the Suns (In One Deck)

Now for more Kamigawa-era shenanigans. Combining Patron of the Moon and Uyo, Silent Prophet already sounds like the beginning of a Kamigawa fever dream, and Channel the Suns somehow makes the whole thing even stranger.

With Patron and Uyo on the battlefield (a big mana investment, to be sure), Channel the Suns in hand, and at least two lands available to bounce, you cast Channel the Suns, then use Uyo to copy it by returning two lands to your hand. The copy makes one mana of each color, Patron of the Moon puts those lands right back onto the battlefield tapped, and the loop is ready to happen again.

Once it gets rolling, the combo produces infinite colored mana, infinite landfall triggers, infinite magecraft triggers, and infinite copies of whatever instant or sorcery is lucky enough to be sitting on the stack. It is clunky, old-school, and deeply unnecessary, which is exactly why it rules.

Monk GyatsoMonk Gyatso + Priest of UrabraskPriest of Urabrask + Umbral MantleUmbral Mantle (In Three Decks)

Say it with me: “Equip costs for remain extremely powerful.” After Nadu Summer saw the little-known Equipment ShukoShuko, from Betrayers of Kamigawa, become one of the most important combo pieces around, there remain only a handful of zero-mana Equipments in the game. Umbral Mantle is one such artifact.

With Monk Gyatso, Priest of Urabrask, and Umbral Mantle on the battlefield, you activate Umbral Mantle’s equip ability for zero, targeting Priest of Urabrask. Monk Gyatso triggers and airbends the Priest, exiling it. Since the target is gone, Umbral Mantle’s ability fizzles. Then you cast Priest from exile for two mana, and Priest enters to add three red mana. Repeat the process, netting one red mana each loop. Throw in some burn spells and you’re golden

There is a lot to love here, but the best part is Umbral Mantle not actually equipping anything. It simply points at Priest of Urabrask, Monk Gyatso sends the Priest on a quick vacation, and the Equipment is left looking around the table like Travolta in Pulp Fiction.

This is exactly the sort of combo that makes Commander both exhausting and beautiful.

Anhelo, the PainterAnhelo, the Painter + Talrand, Sky SummonerTalrand, Sky Summoner + Call to MindCall to Mind + Mystic RetrievalMystic Retrieval + Capture of JingzhouCapture of Jingzhou (In Four Decks)

Extra-turn combos are usually not anyone’s favorite thing to sit across from, but this one at least has the decency to be bizarre. It is less “I cast Time Warp again” and more “please follow this flowchart involving Drakes, the casualty mechanic, and two recursion spells.”

With Anhelo, the Painter and Talrand, Sky Summoner on the battlefield, Capture of Jingzhou can be copied with casualty by sacrificing a creature with power two or greater. Talrand makes Drake tokens as instants and sorceries are cast, which gives the deck future casualty fodder. Call to Mind and Mystic Retrieval then pick up each other and Capture of Jingzhou at the right times, letting the deck continue chaining extra turns.

While employing this combo with the more easily found Time Warp is more common (22 decks on EDHREC), using the supremely scarce Capture of Jingzhou from Portal Three Kingdoms will net you some serious style points.

This is the combo equivalent of building a suspension bridge out of birds (or in this case, Drakes). It is also a good reminder that Talrand is still dangerous if given enough nonsense to work with. The card has been making harmless-looking Drakes for years, but in the right shell, those tokens stop being chump blockers and start becoming fodder for going infinite.

Guan Yu, Sainted WarriorGuan Yu, Sainted Warrior + RemembranceRemembrance + DeathrenderDeathrender + Blasting StationBlasting Station (In Four Decks)

This loop is magnificent. Deathrender is attached to Guan Yu, Sainted Warrior. You sacrifice Guan Yu to Blasting Station, causing Guan Yu, Deathrender, and Remembrance to trigger. Guan Yu shuffles itself into your library, Remembrance searches it back into your hand, and Deathrender puts it straight onto the battlefield with Deathrender attached again. Guan Yu entering untaps Blasting Station, and Blasting Station deals one damage. Repeat forever.

It’s hard to beat that for style points. Guan Yu dies, goes to the library, is immediately remembered, leaps back into battle wearing the same Equipment, and reloads the Blasting Station cannon. Sounds like a mono-white action movie in miniature, right?

The best unusual combos are not always the strongest combos. They are the ones that make you appreciate how deep Magic’s card pool really is. Anyone can win with the obvious stuff. It takes a special kind of brewer to look at Guan Yu, Remembrance, Deathrender, and Blasting Station and see not four unrelated cards, but destiny.

Destiny, in this case, is one damage — repeated ad infinitum.

The Jank Never Dies

Magic is at its best when the weird cards get a chance to be menaces, and these combos prove there are still plenty of strange little engines hiding in the bulk box. They may not be efficient, popular, or even remotely normal, but that’s the charm.

Sometimes the most memorable wins are the ones that make the table stop, reread three cards they had no idea existed, and then begrudgingly admit that, somehow, you win.