MTG's Outlaws Of Thunder Junction Introduces Two-Card Winning Combo To Standard

thegamer.com:

Magic: The Gathering’s newest set, Outlaws of Thunder Junction, just introduced a two-card winning combo to the game’s Standard format, and all you need is five mana, three of them black, and a dream.

Black has long been one of the most powerful colours in Standard, thanks to the absolute chokehold Sheoldred, the Apocalypse has had since her debut in Dominaria United. However, with this combo, black players can now outright win on the same turn they’d normally play Sheoldred.

The card introduced in Outlaws of Thunder Junction is Rush of Dread, a sorcery that costs two black mana and one generic. However, it also uses the set’s new spree mechanic, that requires to pay at least one of a number of additional costs.

For Rush of Dread, you’re going to be looking at the last cost. For two additional generic mana, you can force na opponent to lose half of their life, rounded up. That means, in total, the cost of this card will be three generic, two black.

As noticed by MTGGoldfish’s SaffronOlive on Twitter, Rush of Dread combos off of a card introduced in last year’s The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Bloodletter of Aclazotz costs one generic and three black mana, and it doubles the amount of life an opponent loses in your turn. With just this on the board, at least five mana, and Rush of Dread in your hand, you can win the game.

With Bloodletter of Aclazotz out, cast Rush of Dread out and pay its spree cost of two generic to make your opponent lose half of their life. Bloodletter of Aclazotz’ ability is what is known in Magic as a “replacement effect”, and replaces that loss of half your opponent’s life and says “actually, they’re going to lose all of it”.

The result is that you win you the game regardless of how much life your opponent has.

This combo is legal in just about every format, bar Pauper. Commander, Pioneer, Modern, Vintage, and Legacy could all put it to use.

Of course, this is a slow combo, as it requires a creature in play and for you to cast a sorcery. Anybody in