K'rrik, Son of YawgmothK'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth | Art by Daniel Ljunggren 

Welcome back to Best At, Worst At. In this series, we look at some of Commander's most popular strategies, see which legendary creatures lead the most decks for them, and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of those cards.

In today's edition, we'll be looking at Combo decks. This strategy is hugely popular, and currently sits firmly as the fourth-most popular way to play Commander. With 112,273 combo decks in EDHREC's database, this represents a huge part of the format's ecosystem.

Why Play Combo?

This strategy seeks to do something over and over again, usually infinitely, by combining two or more cards in a special way. Some famous combos include Heliod, God of the SunHeliod, God of the Sun with Walking BallistaWalking Ballista and Exquisite BloodExquisite Blood with Sanguine BondSanguine Bond. For a comprehensive combo search engine, you could look to Commander Spellbook. With 100,000 unique combinations of cards in their database, you'll find tons of great options for your deckbuilding needs.

But, some cards do appear in a lot of these lists. Mystic RemoraMystic Remora, a fantastic way to gain card advantage, is in 45% of lists. Birds of ParadiseBirds of Paradise, which can help accelerate out combo pieces, is in 53% of decks. SilenceSilence, one of the best ways to protect a winning turn, finds itself in 31% of combo-based 99s.

Who's The Most Popular Combo Commander?

By a slim margin, the most popular commander for this strategy is K'rrik, Son of YawgmothK'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth. This mono- legend lets us cheat on costs extremely well, allowing us to pull off some mana-intensive moves way ahead of schedule.

For , K'rrik is a 2/2 with lifelink that gets a +1/+1 counter whenever we cast a black spell. Additionally, he lets us pay two life to cover each in spell and ability costs.

What Makes K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth So Powerful?

Mark Rosewater, Magic's head designer, has spoken frequently about how the game's mana system is one of its most important traits. It controls the pace of play, and allows progressively more powerful things to happen turn after turn.

K'rrik says "screw that," and lets us spend up to 19 by using our life total as a resource. The power inherent in that ability cannot be overstated. Whether we're pouring all of that mana into a single copy of ExsanguinateExsanguinate or producing a multi-layered combo involving several cards, K'rrik is powerful because he lends us the ability to spend a whole game's worth of mana the second we get him on the field.

What's in a K'rrik Deck?

K'rrik decks tend to pour their life total into activated abilities. One of the most powerful ones that they have access to is Vilis, Broker of BloodVilis, Broker of Blood, who lets pilots pay three life to give a creature -1/-1 and draw three cards at instant speed. Vilis also enables a combo with Sheoldred, the ApocalypseSheoldred, the Apocalypse, allowing us to draw our entire deck and gain tons of life that we can then use to cast all the spells in our hand. These decks can also use cards like NecropotenceNecropotence and NecrodominanceNecrodominance to refill their hands. This lets pilots accelerate further ahead, by combining potent card advantage and mana production. K'rrik decks take all the best mono- cards and make them even better!

Because they can cheat on costs, but not generic mana costs, these decks tend to play some strange tutors. FleshwritherFleshwrither and Beseech the QueenBeseech the Queen, for example, are among K'rrik's most popular cards! This deck's color identity also allows it to play some interesting interactive spells, like Imp's MischiefImp's Mischief. Finally, powerful spells like Archenemy's CharmArchenemy's Charm are basically free with our commander on the board!

But, a combo deck wouldn't be complete without... (you guessed it) combos. The most powerful cEDH decks for this commander can make use of Razaketh, the FoulbloodedRazaketh, the Foulblooded to get Blood CelebrantBlood Celebrant on the field and generate , then fetching up Gray Merchant of AsphodelGray Merchant of Asphodel and recurring it infinitely to drain out the whole table. They can also use Praetor's GraspPraetor's Grasp, Necrotic OozeNecrotic Ooze, and even Hoarding BroodlordHoarding Broodlord to set up some convoluted combo lines. This deck can get real crazy, real fast.

In place of the average EDHREC decklist, I'd actually like to reference a K'rrik list from the cEDH decklist database. The people behind competitive lists for this commander certainly know more than I do about it, so I'll defer to them:

What Are K'rrik's Shortcomings?

While this Phyrexian Horror Minion is a fantastic card, it's not perfect. Like many great commanders, it's limited heavily by its color identity.

While does allow us access to the game's best tutors (Vampiric TutorVampiric Tutor, Demonic TutorDemonic Tutor, and more), and K'rrik provides ample mana acceleration, we're lacking the protection that will truly keep our combo safe.

lets us put counterspells in our deck, lets us play a few Grand AbolisherGrand Abolisher variants, has a few redirection effects, and even has some ways to protect permanents on the field. K'rrik's mono-colored nature makes this strategy inherently somewhat fragile.

How Can We Shore Up K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth's Weaknesses?

To provide us with the durability we'll need, while still giving us plenty of speed and combo potential, let's analyze Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier! This Izzet () commander allows us to produce similarly crazy quantities of mana, pairs very well with a few specific enchantments, and has a much more interaction-friendly color identity.

For , Vivi lets us add an amount of mana equal to his power (in any combination of and ). He also gets a +1/+1 counter and pings our opponents for one damage whenever we cast a noncreature spell.

Vivi is part of a few notoriously strong combos. He pairs with Quicksilver ElementalQuicksilver Elemental or Deadeye NavigatorDeadeye Navigator to create infinite and mana, as both of these creatures skirt around Vivi's "once per turn" restriction.

Although it isn't necessarily infinite, we can also use this commander to draw boatloads of cards with CuriosityCuriosity, Ophidian EyeOphidian Eye, or Tandem LookoutTandem Lookout. Those three turn our commander, who was already a strong mana generator, into a super powerful card advantage engine as well.

Finally, of course, Vivi decks get access to some of the best interaction in the game. They can protect their own game plan with Force of WillForce of Will or Deflecting SwatDeflecting Swat, and casting those spells actually makes Vivi even stronger!

Much like with K'rrik, I'm no Vivi expert. I defer to the fine folks behind his competitive decklists, including this one:

Conclusion

It's hard to encapsulate combo decks in just two lists. This strategy is extremely diverse, and we can find decks that win by going infinite in every single color combination. These decks tend to sit on the higher end of the Bracket system, though, which limits some players' willingness to dip their toes into this realm.

Is there a combo commander that you're enamored with? Have you found a legend that scratches the itch to go infinite that lies within all Magic players? Drop your thoughts in the comments section, and I'll be back for another Best At, Worst At in a bit!