Skip to content
MTGCombos
MenuClose

Share your combos and save your decks.

Join for freeLog in
Magic The Gathering Combos
Search Cards & Combos:

Home     Submit A Combo     Deck Builder     Forums     Picture Guess     Help

You are not logged in [click to login] - [Join For Free!]  





Turn 1 complete lockdown

Hover a card name for a preview. Tap or click an image to zoom, or open its rules below.

UnmaskEnlarge

Unmask

{3}{B}

Sorcery

Mercadian Masques

Read rules for Unmask
You may exile a black card from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost. Target player reveals their hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card.

Full card details & printings ›

Painter's ServantEnlarge

Painter's Servant

{2}

Artifact Creature — Scarecrow

Shadowmoor

Read rules for Painter's Servant
As this creature enters, choose a color. All cards that aren't on the battlefield, spells, and permanents are the chosen color in addition to their other colors.

1/3

Full card details & printings ›

Date Posted: Mon Jan/03/11 at 7:03 am

Ephemerance
Posts: 913
Joined: 18-Jun-09

Use unmask to discard Iona (alternate casting method).
Cast dark ritual
Cast painter's servant; choose a colour
Cast Reanimate; target Iona
Declare chosen colour


No opponent can play spells for the rest of the game. A fancy Godhand.



Edit:

Question. Is Iona's first ability a trigger and the second a static?




[Edited by Ephemerance on 3/Jan/11 at 7:05AM]
Date Posted: Mon Jan/03/11 at 9:58am

Pal-of-Lim-Dul
Posts: 1148
Joined: 24-May-10

The other question is how Iona got in your graveyard in the first turn...
Date Posted: Mon Jan/03/11 at 10:13am

JimTilson
Posts: 160
Joined: 07-Jul-09

How about?

1. Cast Swamp + Dark Ritual
2. Cast Painter's Servant choosing Black as the color. (1 Black Mana floating)
3. Use Unmask to discard Iona, using the alternate casting method. (you should have another card in hand to remove from game which is made black by the Painter's Servant, including lands!).
4. Cast Reanimate; targeting Iona, choosing Black as the color.
Nobody but you gets to play anything else for the rest of the game.


[Edited by JimTilson on 3/Jan/11 at 10:19AM]
Date Posted: Mon Jan/03/11 at 10:37am

Turbine
Posts: 10194
Joined: 26-Oct-09

No lockdown is complete. Cycling abilities still work.
Date Posted: Mon Jan/03/11 at 11:47am

gericault5
Posts: 2788
Joined: 13-Oct-09

You can't consider cycling abilities againest this none of them are good enough to deal with it.

Also iona's first ability is not an ability it is a charateristic defining choice
The second one is a staic ability
Date Posted: Mon Jan/03/11 at 1:39pm

JimTilson
Posts: 160
Joined: 07-Jul-09

True, cycling abilities can still be played, but to do what? Plus a well played Leyline of the Void could help against that.
Date Posted: Mon Jan/03/11 at 4:44pm

Houston
Posts: 101
Joined: 17-Mar-10

What about lands that become creatures? or lands that can mess with the combo?
Date Posted: Mon Jan/03/11 at 7:39pm

JimTilson
Posts: 160
Joined: 07-Jul-09

"Houston we have a problem".

Seriously though, I first thought that the Painter's Servant would make the Lands (since they're cards and permanents also) black and the Iona would prevent them from being played.

Checked the Magic Comprehensive Rules (specifically Rule 305) and found out that Lands are not "spells" since playing them is a special action (they don't use the Stack).

So you'd have to have something to destroy their lands or prevent them from being played like Limited Resources.

 


[Edited by JimTilson on 3/Jan/11 at 7:53PM]
Date Posted: Mon Jan/03/11 at 7:51pm

W@W Podcaster
Posts: 445
Joined: 01-Jun-10

Iona says that you can't cast cards. Lands are not spells, and therefore are not cast. Iona will not prevent your lands from being played.
Date Posted: Mon Jan/03/11 at 8:03pm

gericault5
Posts: 2788
Joined: 13-Oct-09

Houston-both the manlands and ability lands have the same problem as cycling, none are effective enough to deal with this combo.  Sure some can buy you time but thats it

Someone else might think differantly but other then preventing the combo in the first place, Karakas is the only card I can think of to deal with this.


[Edited by gericault5 on 3/Jan/11 at 8:13PM]
Date Posted: Mon Jan/03/11 at 11:18pm

JimTilson
Posts: 160
Joined: 07-Jul-09

gericault5,

Good call on Karakas. I hadn't thought of it.
Date Posted: Tue Jan/04/11 at 3:23am

Ephemerance
Posts: 913
Joined: 18-Jun-09

Wow, good card.
Date Posted: Tue Jan/04/11 at 4:00am

Draco_lich
Posts: 1073
Joined: 07-May-10

wow... what a brutal combo...
only 2 ways i can think to deal with this ... and better hope you got it in your opening hand... either force of will or karakas
or something to fast-effect change the painters servant to a different color
Date Posted: Tue Jan/04/11 at 5:40am

Zark-the-Damned
Posts: 523
Joined: 24-Feb-10

Slight problem with the combo:

'You may remove a black card in your hand from the game rather than pay Unmask's mana cost.'

Iona isn't Black so you can't use it for Unmask's cost normally.

The combo still works with a slight amendment - you have to play the Painters Servant and choose Black, THEN play Unmask for it's alternate cost.
Date Posted: Tue Jan/04/11 at 10:33am

JimTilson
Posts: 160
Joined: 07-Jul-09

See my first post above for the proper sequence to make this combo work.
Date Posted: Tue Jan/04/11 at 12:41pm

gericault5
Posts: 2788
Joined: 13-Oct-09

Painters does not have a text so I can't thing of any way to change the color. To allow you to play spells

Just want to point out that the orignal order the poster has works fine.
You don't use iona to pay for the alternate cost as that card exiled. You are3 the target player for unmask allowing you to discard iona




©2006-2026 MTGCombos.com

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.