Around my local game store, we have a fun saying at our Monday Commander night: “achievement unlocked.” A few of us enjoy pulling off goofy things, so building a deck to support something different and getting it to happen feels great. It’s like the Magic version of doing a headstand pushup.

After figuring out how to attack with all the lands while protecting them, it seemed that Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper was ripe for a win-the-game combo. Sure, we could look up a two-card combo on the web and run it with a bunch of ways to look for it, but that’s not particularly creative, and it doesn’t use Noyan Dar’s ability. But wouldn’t it be funny to figure out a way to just win the game with those lands he animates? Here we go with Noyan Dar, round two:

Here are a couple of things before we get started. First, I wanted a combo that would win. Especially in this color combination, combos tend to be more “lock-down” or “make-the-rest-of-the-table-miserable” combos. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I thought something that just straight-up wins would be more fun for the table. And second, I wanted to use Noyan Dar’s ability. I looked at ways to use counters, but ultimately, I settled on infinitely large lands—enough to attack each opponent in the same turn—as the way to win.

Normally, we follow My Deck Tickled a Sliver to see how the deck is constructed, but because the goal here is a Rube Goldberg–style combo, let’s look at that first and then see the rest of the deck is built to support the win con.

In play, we need Genesis Chamber, Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper, Deadeye Navigator, and at least five Islands. In hand, we need High Tide, Archaeomancer, and Snap. If Archaeomancer is already in play and paired with Deadeye Navigator, we can do it with three Islands, but if we hold Archaeomancer until the last possible minute, we seem less threatening.

Start by tapping one Island for High Tide. We tap two more for Archaeomancer, pairing it with Deadeye (with soulbond), returning High Tide to hand and making our first Myr with Genesis Chamber. Tap another Island (number four) and make . Use one for High Tide and then tap our fifth Island, adding and announcing 4 mana. Now we play Snap, returning the Myr to hand (perhaps with an “oops” as the token exiles) and untapping two Islands, and use our floating 2 mana to Flicker Archaeomancer with Deadeye Navigator. For effect, we could search our graveyard, but we return Snap to hand and make another Myr. Now we repeat that, but this time our two Islands make 6 mana for each iteration, leaving us with an extra 2 blue mana each time. Maybe we ask, “Did this just go infinite?” and grin maniacally.

Meanwhile, every time we play Snap (or High Tide, for that matter), we trigger Noyan Dar. Our leader doesn’t require us to animate a different land every time—we can keep piling counters on top of the same one. So we make enough lands infinitely large to attack our opponents to death. We can use the infinite mana to Snap every creature they control back to their hands, clearing the way. If they have hexproof creatures or Kor Haven or whatever, just make an extra land infinitely large and attack with two.

We need mana to pull this off, and most of it needs to be blue—our white here almost feels like a splash, but it’s nice to have the answers white provides. It also didn’t cost much to put together the whole deck without lands—about $50—so there’s around $25 worth of lands put into here, including a Hallowed Fountain. This is an excellent investment because shock lands continue to be the basis of Modern mana bases and they’re fairly inexpensive right now. It’s particularly great here because it’s an Island, so when we’re going off, we can tap it for and make an extra with it. We also have a Seachrome Coast. Pull both of those, and the deck will still probably work fine but will be about $15 cheaper. Rogue's Passage can push one of our massive lands through a token army protected with Asceticism; Encroaching Wastes can stop someone else from absurdity (to allow us to do ours); and Mystifying Maze is a great way to stay alive, as is Prahv, Spires of Order. Flood Plain will search up Hallowed Fountain, as will Sanctum Plowbeast. Burnished Hart should be in most Commander decks, and Traumatic Visions will help fix early or counter a haymaker late.

To win, we combo. That’s really it. I suppose something silly like Sphinx of Magosi could steal a win, or a lucky Phyrexian Rebirth could surprise an unprepared opponent, but the goal here is to unlock the achievement, not go for another win.

In the meantime, though, we need to stay alive long enough to put together all our pieces. Wrath of God effects will reset and keep some decks from getting too out of hand, so we have several. They tend to wreck Elves players, but to manage Zombies, we’ll probably need some help. Oblivion Ring and Banishing Light probably belong in every white deck, but we only have the two, so use them carefully. Stormtide Leviathan helps to lock up the board, which can be helpful. Lavinia of the Tenth, New Prahv Guildmage, and Martial Law all detain opposing permanents, which can be surprisingly effective without raising too much suspicion. We also have a bunch of counterspells, but use them carefully. We may want one to protect our own combo. Kheru Spellsnatcher is especially fun here; who expects that?

We can also add a piece or two and pull off something else. Blasting Station (or Mortarpod) can use the Myr to just shoot damage everywhere. Brain Freeze will mill our opponents out with a single casting; after casting a million spells, storm really gets there. We can Mind's Desire our entire deck and cast everything we have, though we’ve probably already won at that point. With Myr Battlesphere, if it happens to already be in play, we make even more Myr and can make a very large attacking ’Sphere. Chariot of Victory can give one of our giant lands trample to push past some bizarrely large group of shrouded creatures, while Genju of the Falls can even make land fly. Azure Mage, Sphinx of Magosi, Treasure Trove, and Diviner's Wand will draw our entire library, but don’t forget to count the cards there to avoid decking ourselves—if we draw fifty cards and we only have forty-nine left, we lose on the spot. These give us a few different ways to play with the bones of the combo and add a bit of fun to the deck, and they all work without the commander.

We can’t run a five-card combo without some ways to hunt for pieces, though, so we have them. Archaeomancer can be replaced with Mnemonic Wall, but otherwise, we need the exact cards. There are a bunch of ways to find them:

• Dizzy Spell finds High Tide.
• Ethereal Usher finds Deadeye Navigator.
• Muddle the Mixture finds Genesis Chamber or Snap.
• Drift of Phantasms finds Treasure Mage, which can find Planar Portal to find whatever else.
• Citanul Flute will search up necessary creatures.
• Long-Term Plans finds anything.
• Merchant Scroll can find High Tide or Snap.
• Ring of Three Wishes will find us three pieces.

We also have a few ways to return pieces of the combo from the graveyard to our hand. Most of the time, we want to hold on to our pieces until we can go off, but we may lose something along the way or be forced to discard.

Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper ? Commander | Mark Wischkaemper

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (18)
• 1 Archaeomancer
• 1 Augury Owl
• 1 Azure Mage
• 1 Cryptic Annelid
• 1 Deadeye Navigator
• 1 Drift of Phantasms
• 1 Ethereal Usher
• 1 Kheru Spellsnatcher
• 1 Mnemonic Wall
• 1 Mulldrifter
• 1 New Prahv Guildmage
• 1 Sphinx of Magosi
• 1 Stormtide Leviathan
• 1 Treasure Mage
• 1 Burnished Hart
• 1 Myr Battlesphere
• 1 Sanctum Plowbeast
• 1 Lavinia of the Tenth

• Spells (41)
• 1 Anticipate
• 1 Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1 Brain Freeze
• 1 Dissolve
• 1 Dizzy Spell
• 1 High Tide
• 1 Long-Term Plans
• 1 Muddle the Mixture
• 1 Put Away
• 1 Render Silent
• 1 Rewind
• 1 Snap
• 1 Traumatic Visions
• 1 Call to Mind
• 1 Day of Judgment
• 1 End Hostilities
• 1 Kirtar's Wrath
• 1 Merchant Scroll
• 1 Mind's Desire
• 1 Phyrexian Rebirth
• 1 Planar Outburst
• 1 Profound Journey
• 1 Pull from the Deep
• 1 Remember the Fallen
• 1 Archmage Ascension
• 1 Banishing Light
• 1 Genju of the Falls
• 1 Martial Law
• 1 Oblivion Ring
• 1 Retreat to Coralhelm
• 1 Treasure Trove
• 1 Blasting Station
• 1 Chariot of Victory
• 1 Citanul Flute
• 1 Crystal Ball
• 1 Druidic Satchel
• 1 Genesis Chamber
• 1 Mortarpod
• 1 Planar Portal
• 1 Ring of Three Wishes
• 1 Diviner's Wand

• Lands (40)
• 13 Island
• 8 Plains
• 1 Azorius Chancery
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 1 Calciform Pools
• 1 Encroaching Wastes
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Flood Plain
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Halimar Depths
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Mystifying Maze
• 1 New Benalia
• 1 Prahv, Spires of Order
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Seachrome Coast
• 1 Sejiri Refuge
• 1 Temple of Enlightenment
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Tranquil Cove

Buy This Deck

Play lands, draw cards; dig as hard as possible, and be as quiet about it as possible. Avoid playing answers until the last possible moment. And have fun assembling the combo and choosing a number for the amount of mana—the billions is a good start.

We’ve done a deck to make indestructible lands and a deck with a crazy combo. Any other ways to build Noyan Dar? I’m looking for ideas for the next deck, so please share them in the comments! I’d also love to see any other ideas for the combo.

This isn’t for everyone, but occasionally, the goal of doing something goofy is just the thing for a night of Commander with friends. If the absurd is more important than the victory, this deck is the one for you!

Total cost: $74.85