Pia, Aether AsceticPia, Aether Ascetic | Art by Andreas Zafiratos

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Weaver of HarmonyWeaver of Harmony and Curse of BountyCurse of Bounty is the only all-enchantment combo in green that involves a Curse?)

Pia is green now, and also is the first mono-green enchantment tutor?!?

Well, that's got to open some nonsense, doesn't it? Why don't we take a look.

Top 10 Green Combo Enchantments

Criteria: Green enchantments that combo with two or less other cards to make infinite of something with a clear and definable end point (get outta here, ExplorationExploration for Glacial ChasmGlacial Chasm and Life and LimbLife and Limb for a draw!). As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

10. AlurenAluren

(Top Combo: AlurenAluren & Cloudstone CurioCloudstone Curio with 3,913 Decks)

There's a lot to be said for the natural flow of casting PiaPia for three mana, then untapping and casting AlurenAluren for four on the next turn. From there, if you can find Cloudstone CurioCloudstone Curio to then bounce Pia back to your hand, you can play her for free and go get an enchantment creature token-creator, like Teachings of the KirinTeachings of the Kirin, to make infinite creatures. Of course, that doesn't win you the game immediately, and you can only do all that if you have enough cards in hand to discard for two different enchantments. What I didn't mention about why you would choose Teachings of the Kirin over another token-creator, like Jugan Defends the TempleJugan Defends the Temple or Squirrel NestSquirrel Nest, is that it will also mill your entire deck. From there, you can get infinite mana by searching up EarthcraftEarthcraft, provided you've got a basic, a card to discard, and a spare $300. If not, then you're probably just going to have to wait a turn and hope the table doesn't have a board wipe.

9. Elvish GuidanceElvish Guidance

(Top Combo: Elvish GuidanceElvish Guidance, Arbor ElfArbor Elf, & Staff of DominationStaff of Domination with 3,949 Decks)

There are several green Auras that can make a land tap for mana, but few have a top-end that can compare to Elvish GuidanceElvish Guidance. Sure, that also comes with a floor that reads "pay three mana to do literally nothing", but still, the upside is there. As for what combos with it, you'll be unsurprised that there are various creatures that can untap lands and various creatures that can be untapped by the likes of Staff of DominationStaff of Domination, Umbral MantleUmbral Mantle, and Sword of the ParunsSword of the Paruns. The more interesting version of this tried and true combo machine, however? Wirewood LodgeWirewood Lodge can untap an Elf, allowing you to use Argothian ElderArgothian Elder to untap it and the land you enchanted with Elvish Guidance to then go infinite.

Now, are any of these combos good? Well, kind of? Elf-ball is a familiar deck archetype, and Elvish Guidance is probably already a card you're running in a lot of those decks. If you're already playing at higher power levels, it's also likely that you're already attempting some of the Staff of Domination shenanigans that are also possible with Priest of TitaniaPriest of Titania and Incubation DruidIncubation Druid. In other words, it's likely that you're already on all of this nonsense. What you probably aren't going to make room for, however? Pia. Most Elf decks aren't very enchantment-centric, and I just listed about five different combos that layer with each other, the worst of which is probably the one that involves Elvish Guidance.

8. Perilous ForaysPerilous Forays

(Top Combo: Perilous ForaysPerilous Forays, Scute SwarmScute Swarm, & Lotus CobraLotus Cobra with 4,346 Decks)

Switching genres, then, how about some land-deck combos? Perilous ForaysPerilous Forays goes nuts with anything that makes mana and creatures when a land enters, including cards like SpelunkingSpelunking that simply untap the lands you go get with Forays. There's also some neat combos with face-down creatures and Yedora, Grave GardenerYedora, Grave Gardener, but I would definitely keep those in the "neat" category rather than the "good" category. As for the more normal lane, however, Forays is the worst card in the various combos, costing six mana and a creature before it even does anything. That said, there are numerous combos involving it that also involve other enchantments, such as Springheart NantukoSpringheart Nantuko, Zendikar's RoilZendikar's Roil, and the aforementioned Spelunking. In other words? I could see a lands deck adopting a more enchantment-rooted version to try and finish out a game by putting every land in their deck on the battlefield, which would surely result in a combo situation of its own. That version would absolutely run Pia, although I don't know that I'd say the reverse is true. Landfall is a fun archetype, but Pia can't really drive it all that well outside of going to get extremely expensive combo pieces.

7. Concordant CrossroadsConcordant Crossroads

(Top Combo: Concordant CrossroadsConcordant Crossroads, The Unbeatable Squirrel GirlThe Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, & Cryptolith RiteCryptolith Rite with 4,607 Decks)

Competitive EDH just found out via Shang-Chi, Master of Kung FuShang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu that giving your creatures haste is good. Over in the more casual environments, however, that's pretty much always been known, and Concordant CrossroadsConcordant Crossroads has found its way into thousands of decks as the cheapest way to do it in green. Despite that history, the most popular combo involving Crossroads headlines The Unbeatable Squirrel GirlThe Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, a card that just came out a couple of months ago and has made her own splash in the Competitive EDH environment. So, does Squirrel Girl want Pia to find Crossroads? Maybe, but probably not as much as it wants it to find other "creatures = mana" engines, like Cryptolith RiteCryptolith Rite, Enduring VitalityEnduring Vitality, and Growing Rites of ItlimocGrowing Rites of Itlimoc. As for other decks, or a deck with Pia at the helm? There's no shortage of combos here, to be sure, but most of them outside of the Cryptolith/Enduring Vitality-based stuff are much more creature-centric than enchantment-centric. That said, two out of three isn't bad here, and with the likelihood that Cryptolith Rite or Enduring Vitality are immediately going to ramp you once you resolve them in the average green deck that's already done stuff, there's lots to work with here. The real problem is one that's going to keep on showing up, however: it's great that Pia can be an enchantment tutor in the command zone, but unless someone else kills her for you, you're going to have to find a way to get rid of her yourself if you want to tutor several things.

6. Hardened ScalesHardened Scales

(Top Combo: Hardened ScalesHardened Scales, VigorVigor, & Walking BallistaWalking Ballista with 7338 Decks)

There's actually a more common combo with Hardened ScalesHardened Scales over in Selesnya. What's not clear is whether it's actually popular or a lot of folks just built off of the Final Fantasy Precon that centered around +1/+1 counters and included the combo of Gatta and LuzzuGatta and Luzzu, Walking BallistaWalking Ballista, and Scales in its entirety. Regardless, the most popular mono-green variant works the same way, only you don't have to time it with an enters trigger. VigorVigor will put a +1/+1 counter on Ballista whenever you remove a counter from it to deal 1 damage to itself, then Scales will make that into two counters, both keeping the Ballista alive and making it infinitely large until you can ping out the table. Unfortunately, neither Vigor nor Ballista are enchantments, but if you're a +1/+1 counter deck, who cares? Pia can get you Hardened Scales, which will do dumb things in any +1/+1 counter build, alongside other highly impactful enchantments like TerrasymbiosisTerrasymbiosis, Doubling SeasonDoubling Season, Sphere GridSphere Grid, Court of GarenbrigCourt of Garenbrig, and Level UpLevel Up. Who needs to combo out when you can just put 40 counters and trample on each creature you control?

As for Pia, I don't think Scales is for her if you have her in the command zone. She doesn't have any +1/+1 counter synergy, and the best majority enchantment combo I could find with it was Rite of PassageRite of Passage, Scales, and Ballista. I think we can do better.

5. EarthcraftEarthcraft & Squirrel NestSquirrel Nest

(Top Combo: EarthcraftEarthcraft & Squirrel NestSquirrel Nest with 8,380 Decks)

How about two cards, all enchantments? Now, to be clear, this doesn't win the game immediately like all the Hardened ScalesHardened Scales and Walking BallistaWalking Ballista combos we just looked at. Instead, it makes you infinite creature tokens that are now all tapped, you survive a turn hopefully, and then you win. Either that, or you find another enchantment that can turn infinite tokens into a win? Eh, I'm sure we'll run into one further up the list.

4. Nyxbloom AncientNyxbloom Ancient

(Top Combo: Nyxbloom AncientNyxbloom Ancient & Basalt MonolithBasalt Monolith with 15,175 Decks)

Kinnan, Bonder ProdigyKinnan, Bonder Prodigy decks get to do ridiculous things with Nyxbloom AncientNyxbloom Ancient, because they can cheat it into play. For the rest of us it's a seven-mana win-more card. Combine that with its various combo pieces either being artifacts that are harder to search up in green, or multiple creatures. In other words? We already found much stronger than this, and are sure to find more further down the list.

3. AbundanceAbundance

(Top Combo: AbundanceAbundance & Cultivator ColossusCultivator Colossus with 16,751 Decks)

Speaking of seven-mana win-more cards, AbundanceAbundance goes infinite with Cultivator ColossusCultivator Colossus, putting every land in your deck onto the battlefield tapped and arranging your deck in any order. That's pretty awesome, I'm not gonna lie, and is absolutely something I would build a fun casual deck around. The only issue? I'm not sure that it's all that interesting, meaning that once I did the thing once, I'm pretty sure I'd have more of an inclination to tear the deck apart rather than do it again.

2. Food ChainFood Chain

(Top Combo: Food ChainFood Chain & Eternal ScourgeEternal Scourge with 19,364 Decks)

If our goal here is to find the best combo for Pia at the helm, however, then we've done it at our number two slot. Pia is an amazing Food ChainFood Chain commander, as she can both find Food Chain itself, and is also a Food Chain outlet at the same time... Sort of. You see, Wizards I think knew about this exact issue when they created Pia, and I would argue that's why she discards a card to find your enchantments. If she didn't, then you could quite easily make a deck that is designed to cast Pia on turn one, go get Food Chain, cast it on turn two, sacrifice Pia and another creature to then replay Pia to get Survival of the FittestSurvival of the Fittest, then play that, discard a creature to get Eternal ScourgeEternal Scourge, and then cast Pia infinitely to get every enchantment out of your deck, notably including some enchantment creatures you could cast with Food Chain mana.

Instead, Pia discards a card as part of her search, so you have to also find a way to draw cards. There is an option there: with Pia, you can find Eidolon of BlossomsEidolon of Blossoms, which will then draw you a card every time you go get an enchantment creature with Pia, all of which you can cast with Food Chain mana. Is that a win, you may ask? ...maybe? Enduring VitalityEnduring Vitality and Concordant CrossroadsConcordant Crossroads can solve your "I only have mana for creatures" problems if you have another green available, which can be acquired with Demolisher SpawnDemolisher Spawn since it has haste. With Crossroads down, you then have infinite mana by doing your Eternal Scourge thing and tapping it for mana with Enduring Vitality every time you cast it. From there, you can then draw your entire deck with Shigeki, Jukai VisionaryShigeki, Jukai Visionary, which will trigger Eidolon of Blossoms every time you play it before you then activate its ability to return it to your hand and recast it.

How do you win from there? Well, honestly? With one of the other combos from this list. Pick your favorite, but Squirrel NestSquirrel Nest and EarthcraftEarthcraft is my bet, despite it being more convoluted. My reasoning is that it's also a backup way to get infinite mana with Food Chain in the case that your Eternal Scourge ends up in your graveyard. With that said, it requires an untap effect like VitalizeVitalize to be able to swing in with your infinite tokens, as they're all tapped to make the next token in the chain. Alternatively, a token-doubler, like Doubling SeasonDoubling Season, would also do the trick, a card which we're notably about to talk about again.

1. Springheart NantukoSpringheart Nantuko

(Top Combo: Springheart NantukoSpringheart Nantuko & Tireless ProvisionerTireless Provisioner with 92,130 Decks)

If you haven't run into it before, here's the basic run-down with Springheart NantukoSpringheart Nantuko: it goes infinite with landfall and earthbending nonsense, usually of the Badgermole CubBadgermole Cub variety. Make a land a creature, bestow Nantuko onto it, play a land to trigger it and make a copy of the man-land that isn't a creature and therefore doesn't have summoning sickness, triggering landfall to make another copy which you can pay for from the land tapping for mana and the Treasure from Tireless ProvisionerTireless Provisioner. Repeat, and you make infinite tapped lands and landfall triggers.

My only issue with this? It doesn't win the game, even if you get to untap. So you have infinite lands. So what? Cast every spell in your hand, shrug, and pass? Doesn't seem like the winning strategy you'd be hoping for after jumping through all these hoops to go find both Provisioner and Badgermole Cub.

But since we're playing a commander that can rather easily find enchantments, what if I told you that there was another option that involved an enchantment instead of Tireless Provisioner?

Token-doublers provide a more definitive combo with Springheart Nantuko. Instead of leaving you with a bunch of tapped lands, you get two Nantuko triggers, only one of which you pay for to get the two lands, the other one of which you just let become two Insects. In other words? You end up with infinite creature tokens to swing in with next turn, a much better situation, albeit not the "win this turn" one you'd like.

Honorable Mentions

Speaking of token-doublers...

Aside from the Springheart NantukoSpringheart Nantuko earthbending nonsense, the various token-doublers of the world also combo with a bunch of other cards. In the mono-green enchantment department, however, the most notable to me is the token-doubler, Springheart NantukoSpringheart Nantuko yet again, and Druid ClassDruid Class. This is essentially the same combo we just went over, only instead of earthbending, we're now using Level 3 of Druid Class to animate a land. This does mean, however, that we can now do so with just enchantments, instead of having to go find creatures like Tireless ProvisionerTireless Provisioner or Badgermole CubBadgermole Cub. The price we pay for that? To fully upgrade Druid Class costs a total of ten mana. Ouch.

In other words? Number two wins this week, not that we've ever really declared winners around here. Still, let's take a look at what kind of deck that makes and whether it can hack it at the higher levels of competition, shall we?

Now, I can already hear some folks bristling at the "Bracket 5" description here, but let me clear: you could take this to a tournament and not get embarrassed. You would likely even win at least one game. Would you win the tournament? Doubtful. But what we have here is a consistent turn three turbo deck, and that can win games. It won't win the ones where folks have interaction available for you, but if you hit the right pods or just get lucky and no one happens to have counterspells for your Food Chain, then you win those games.

Does that mean this is a good Competitive EDH deck? Absolutely not. What it is is a fine example of a "casual cEDH" deck, one of many that you probably won't see much at tournaments but folks play in their local pods anyway because it can keep up and they like the deck for whatever reason. For those of you that would call that "Bracket 4", talk to actual Bracket 4 players and they'll be happy to tell you that you're wrong.

Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall Commander Spellbook search.

What Do You Think?

With that said, you obviously can build Pia as a Bracket 4 brew, or even as something a little softer. The Springheart Nantuko-centric version of the deck, for instance, actually seems like it would be a blast to play in Bracket 3. So, is that where she belongs?

And finally, what is your favorite enchantment combo? Can you play it with Pia at the helm in mono-green?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the table we went and got after the one we were playing on broke.