Much Abrew: Naru Meha Combo (Pioneer)
Hello, everyone! Welcome to another episode of Much Abrew About Nothing. A couple of days ago, we had an Instant Deck Tech featuring a crazy Pioneer combo involving copying Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro to get a board full of hasty Naru Meha, Master Wizard #124s (with the help of Spark Double #68 to get around the annoying legend rule) and win the game on Turn 4. While the combo seems insane when it works, the big question for the deck is how consistently it can pull off the combo. Well, today, we're going to take the deck out for a spin and find out! What are the odds of making 40+ power of hasty Naru Meha, Master Wizard #124s on Turn 4? Let's get to the video and find out; then, we'll talk more about the deck!
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Much Abrew: Naru Meha Combo
Discussion
- Record-wise, Naru Meha Combo was a lot better than I had expected. We went 4-1 across five games, with our only loss being to the Orzhov Sram deck, which managed to combine a fast clock, huge lifelinkers, and Thoughtseize #20 Showcase to slow down our combo kills.
- As for the combo itself, here's what we need: a way to copy a spell (Expansion // Explosion #224, Doublecast #307, or Ral, Storm Conduit #211) along with any creature that costs at least two mana (of which we have a bunch) and Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro, basically making the combo somewhere between two and three cards (depending on if you consider our random creatures like Paradise Druid #704 and Sylvan Caryatid #272 combo pieces).
- Assuming we find all of the pieces, the combo itself is way less complicated than it looks. We cast Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro, sacrificing a creature, and copy Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro so that we have two copies on the stack. The first one resolves, and we get Naru Meha, Master Wizard #124, which copies the Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro that's still on the stack (putting us back up to two Eldritch Evolution #410 Retros). We resolve another Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro, this time getting Spark Double #68 to make a non-legendary copy of Naru Meha, Master Wizard #124, which again copies the Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro. Eventually, we do this until we tutor out all four Spark Double #68s (all copying Naru Meha, Master Wizard #124), and finally, at the end of the chain, we use our last Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro to grab Chasm Guide #143 to give all of our creatures haste. Since each Naru Meha, Master Wizard #124 pumps all of our other copies, the end result is somewhere around 40 damage!
- There's also a much slower path to the combo that didn't come up but is important to know. If we happen to draw Naru Meha, Master Wizard #124 and Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro, we can get up to seven mana, cast Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro, and use Naru Meha, Master Wizard #124 to copy it and start the chain.
- In theory, the fastest we can win the game with the deck is on Turn 4, which is actually pretty fast for a combo deck in Pioneer.
- While the combo itself is surprisingly effective and the deck is good enough to win a lot of games even in its current state, there are some places where it can probably be improved. Here's a short list of things I didn't really like about the deck along with some ideas of how we could fix them.
- Ral, Storm Conduit #211 felt pretty bad. Unlike our other copying spells, it usually has to sit on the battlefield for a turn, which is tough. Combine that with the fact that we can't hit Ral, Storm Conduit #211 with Augur of Bolas #292, and I think the deck would be better with four Doublecast #307 and four Expansion // Explosion #224s and zero copies of Ral.
- Speaking of Augur of Bolas #292, maximizing its power seems like a good idea. While Brazen Borrower #39 is fine in the deck as a removal spell that can eventually be sacrificed to Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro, it is problematic that we can't hit it with Augur of Bolas #292. It might be worth considering at least some form of spell-based removal or interaction in the main deck.
- The biggest pinch in the deck is that we only have four copies of Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro, and we really need one to combo off and win the game. Neoform #206 could offer a backup, although we'd have to rebuild the deck since it can't get Naru Meha, Master Wizard #124 or Spark Double #68 if we sacrifice a two-drop (which is basically our entire creature base). We'd need more three-mana creatures for the plan to work. Another option could be Chord of Calling #345 Retro, although this would probably require more creatures in an absolute sense to pay for convoke.
- Another possibility is to stick with just Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro but add more cantrips and card draw (alongside our two Supreme Will #370s—which we might want more of anyway—and one Drawn from Dreams #56) to help find it. While I'm not sure about the right path, the easiest way to add consistency to the deck is finding a way to play more than four copies of Eldritch Evolution #410 Retro to increase our odds of drawing one each game.
- So, should you play Naru Meha Combo in Pioneer? The deck was surprisingly fun and effective, and I think it could be even better with some tuning. While it's probably too janky to be a tier deck in the format, I think it's certainly FNM playable or good for playing some for-fun leagues on Magic Online. With a bit of luck, tuning, and good matchups, it wouldn't shock me to find out that someone managed to go 5-0 with the combo.
Conclusion
Anyway, that's all for today. Don't forget to vote for next week's deck by liking, commenting on, and subscribing to Instant Deck Tech videos. As always, leave your thoughts, ideas, opinions, and suggestions in the comments, and you can reach me on Twitter @SaffronOlive or at SaffronOlive@MTGGoldfish.com.
