In Magic: The Gathering, one of the most vital phases of every turn is combat, the phase in which players attack and defend using their creatures. For most strategies in the game, combat is a pivotal means of dealing damage to one’s opponents.
While creatures are the cards at the center of combat, there are many instants that can directly interact with combat. Frequently referred to as “combat tricks,” these instants come in a variety of forms both offensive and defensive, and can sometimes be deciding factors of a game’s outcome. So today, we’re going to examine the strongest combat tricks in all of Magic!
Updated February 17, 2022 by Paul DiSalvo: As several new Magic sets are released every year, players are constantly getting access to new potent tools they can include in their decks. With the release of nearly every set, players are given access to new combat tricks. While many of these cards are sub-par and rarely see play outside of draft, every so often, a new combat trick will make a splash in formats like Commander. So today, we’re going to examine the various potent combat tricks that have been introduced to Magic over the past few years!
15 Fog
Printed in the very first set of Magic, fog is a combat trick that has stood the test of time and still sees play to this day.
A green instant for a single mana, fog prevents all combat damage that would be dealt that turn. A well-timed casting of fog can often prevent enough damage to buy its caster additional turns and help them hold out until the late stages of a game.
14 Hellish Rebuke
Hellish Rebuke is a highly underrated Black combat trick that was printed as part of the Planar Portal preconstructed commander deck. An instant for three mana, while Hellish rebuke can’t prevent damage from being dealt to its caster, it can certainly provide significant repercussion against an attacking player.
Upon being cast, Hellish Rebuke states that until the end of the turn, whenever a permanent under an opponent’s control would deal damage to this spell’s caster, the permanent is sacrificed and its controller loses two life. This means that if a player attacks this spell’s caster with several creatures, not only will each of those attacking creatures be dealt with, but their controller will lose two life per creature.
13 Selfless Squire
Selfless Squire is a rarity among combat tricks, being a creature with flash rather than an instant. Printed in Commander 2016, Selfless Squire is a 1/1 creature for four mana. While this rate doesn’t immediately sound too appealing, when Selfless Squire enters the battlefield, it prevents all damage that would be dealt to its controller that turn. Notably, while most fog-type effects only prevent combat damage, Selfless Squire prevents any type of damage. Furthermore, after preventing this damage, an amount of +1/+1 counters equal to the damage that was prevented are put on the Squire, turning it to a huge combative threat!
12 Tainted Strike
A mono-black combat trick, Tainted Strike is a spell that can take a player out of a Commander game instantaneously.
For one mana, Tainted Strike provides a target creature with +1/+0 and infect until the end of the turn. This means if a creature with a power of nine or greater is going to deal combat damage to a player, Tainted Strike can be cast at instant speed and immediately take that player out of the game! As Commander is a multiplayer format that often has numerous large creatures swinging around the table, Tainted Strike can even be cast on another player’s creature when attacking another of one’s opponents.
11 Mutagenic Growth
The spell Giant Growth is often considered the benchmark of combat tricks, providing a creature with +3/+3 until the end of turn for a single green mana. While Mutagenic Growth does not provide as much of a buff, bestowing taregt creature with +2/+2 until the end of turn, it features another significant upside. Rather than costing one green mana, Mutagenic Growth costs one green Phyrexian mana. This means that rather than paying mana to cast this spell, its caster may pay two life instead. When used in decks such as infect decks that seek to deal damage as quickly as possible, Mutagenic Growth can be cast without the expense of mana!
10 Temur Battle Rage
An all-star of the Pauper format, Temur Battle Rage is a spell that can force substantial sums of damage through to unsuspecting opponents.
A red instant for two mana, Temur Battle Rage bestows double strike upon a target creature, effectively allowing that creature to contribute twice its normal damage until the end of the turn. While this ability is stong in its own right, as long as this spell’s caster controls at least one creature with a power of four or greater, that creature also gains trample! This means that even if a creature is going to be blocked, Temur Battle Rage ensures that an opponent will be taking damage regardless.
9 Heroic Intervention
Heroic intervention is a stellar green instant for three mana that can be used to great effect both in and out of the combat phase. For a mere two mana, this spell provides each of the caster’s permanents with hexproof and indestructible. This means that in addition to being able to protect one’s board from removal, this spell can be used to protect its caster’s attacking or blocking creatures. Due to its sheer flexibility and efficiency, there are few decks with access to Green that wouldn’t benefit from this card’s inclusions.
8 Obscuring Haze
It’s no secret that one of the strongest things a player can do in Magic is casting their spells for free. Easily one of the best fog effects in the Commander format, while Obscuring Haze may initially seem over-costed as a three-mana fog, its actually among the most efficient fogs in all of Magic.
This is because as long as this spell’s caster controls their commander, this spell can be cast without its mana cost being paid. Thanks to Obscuring Haze, a player can potentially prevent lethal damage, even if they’re out of usable mana sources.
7 Boros Charm
Few combat tricks possess the sheer flexibility of Boros Charm. A Boros instant for two mana, Boros Charm’s caster gets to choose from between three potential abilities. While Boros charm can deal four damage to a player, it can also be used defensively and provide each permanent its caster controls with indestructible, or it can be used offensively to provide a creature with double strike! For such an affordable rate, this spell is like having numerous combat tricks glued to each other!
6 Comeuppance
Comeuppance is a white instant for four mana that has similarities with the Selfless Squire. Upon being cast, Comeuppance prevents all damage that would be dealt it its caster and Planeswalkers they control. Then, for each creature that had its damage prevented, it deals that much damage to itself! To top it all off, if an effect from a non-creature source such as an artifact or an instant had its damage prevented, that damage is redirected to the owners of said sources! Comeuppance is a card that can instantly turn one’s defeat into a victory!
5 Arachnogenesis
Many of the strongest combat tricks in Magic are those that keep their caster safe whilst simultaneously offering an additional benefit. A green instant for three mana, Arachnogenesis is a potent instant that can provide progressively greater benefits based on how many creatures are attacking its caster. Putting X 1/2 spider tokens with reach into play where X is equal to the number of creatures attacking its caster, this spell prevents all damage that would be dealt to non-spider creatures that turn. Not only does this spell provide blockers that can be used to freely remove attacking creatures, but these spiders can also then be used during their controller’s next turn for a counter-attack.
4 Inkshield
Inkshield is a stellar Orzhov combat trick that can be used to not just protect its caster, but allow for a deadly and evasive counter-attack capable of dealing twice as much damage as that which was prevented. An instant for five mana, Preventing all combat damage that would be dealt to its caster this turn, for each one damage prevented, that player creates a 2/1 inkling token with flying. As these tokens are 2/1s and are rather difficult to block thanks to their access to flying, Inkshield can often be cast to single-handedly turn the tides of a game of Commander.
3 Constant Mists
It’s safe to say that Constant Mists is one of the most powerful fog-type cards ever printed. Though Constant Mists costs one more mana than fog for an identical effect, it has an additional ability that makes it really worth a player’s while. This is because Constant Mists has a buyback cost of one sacrificed land, allowing a land to be sacrificed when the spell is cast, immediately putting the card back in its caster’s hand. As long as Constant Mists’s caster has lands to spare, they can repeatedly cast the spell each turn, stalling to their heart’s content!
2 Hatred
One would be hard-pressed to find a mono-black combat trick as impressive as Hatred. An incredibly aggressive combat trick that was printed in Exodus, Hatred in a black instant for five mana. When Hatred is cast, its caster can pay any amount of life. Then, target creature gets +X/+0 where X is equal to the amount of life paid until the end of turn. If any creature is left unblocked and Hatred’s caster has more life than the defending player, the vast majority of one’s life can be paid, allowing Hatred to provide a creature with enough offense to deal lethal damage!
1 Teferi’s Protection
Teferi’s Protection is the epitome of a panic button and is one of the strongest mono-white cards to have ever been printed. A white instant for three mana, Terferi’s Protection states that until their next turn , its caster’s life total can’t change, they gain protection from everything, and all of their permanents phase out. This means that both that player and all of their permanents cannot be targeted, and with very few exceptions, that player likely can’t lose the game until their next turn!
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