Ant QueenAnt Queen | Art by Trevor Claxton
Welcome back to Wombo Combo, the article series where we gander at EDH's best combo cards using data from EDHREC and Commander Spellbook. In this edition, we'll enter the world of creepy and crawling creatures as we look at the best Insect combo cards!
Insects come in hordes, and many Magic Insects do the same. Many Insects center around making tokens (generally, more Insects) and/or beefing up those tokens. Insects also have an affinity for lands, either when they enter or by sacrificing them.
Let's embrace the swarm and utilize these Insects to our combo advantage.
#10: Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
Deck Inclusions: 2,514 as commander (#740); 47,727 as card (3.40%)
Mazirek, Kraul Death PriestMazirek, Kraul Death Priest puts a +1/+1 counter on each of your creatures when a player sacrifices a permanent, perfect for cards that interact with +1/+1 counters. This is especially true for cards that also make permanents, like Herd BalothHerd Baloth or Basking BroodscaleBasking Broodscale.
You can also use Animation ModuleAnimation Module to create Servos, and sacrifice them for mana. Ghave, Guru of SporesGhave, Guru of Spores is also a popular choice, creating 1/1 Saprolings to then sacrifice and trigger Mazirek.
#9: Scute Swarm
Deck Inclusions: 306,007 decks (9.82%)
Probably the most infamous landfall card, Scute SwarmScute Swarm is incredibly strong. As it creates more tokens of itself, those tokens can create more tokens of themselves, effectively doubling the number of Scute Swarms you control each time you get a landfall trigger.
This token generation is perfect for triggering Kodama of the East TreeKodama of the East Tree to return a land to your hand. One of the tokens can also be sacrificed to Zimone and DinaZimone and Dina to play another land guaranteed with AbundanceAbundance on the battlefield, or to Perilous ForaysPerilous Forays to fetch basic lands.
#8: Zask, Skittering Swarmlord
Deck Inclusions: 4,674 as commander (#432); 11,465 as card (0.82%)
The swarmlord of the Insects is none other than Zask, Skittering SwarmlordZask, Skittering Swarmlord, and it's obvious this card was meant to helm an Insect deck.
Zask works best with Verdant SuccessionVerdant Succession, shuffling a green Insect back into your library and then fetching it again via Verdant Succession to cause an infinite loop.
Zask also works well with AlurenAluren, which allows you to both cast Insects with mana value three or less for free, and lets you cast them as though they have flash. Once an Insect dies, you can cast it for free thanks to Zask and Aluren, and then resolve Zask's trigger to mill cards.
#7: Hex Parasite
Deck Inclusions: 22,240 decks (0.65%)
Hex ParasiteHex Parasite has an interesting ability that can remove counters from permanents you control. This is useful for persist and undying creatures to remove the counter so you can return them again. Hex Parasite is also great for removing finality counters, making it perfect for Noctis, Prince of LucisNoctis, Prince of Lucis to infinitely recur artifacts.
Hex Parasite can also remove lore counters from Sagas like There and Back AgainThere and Back Again to make more Smaugs and Treasures. It also works to trigger Dark DepthsDark Depths earlier, if you're into that.
#6: Wirewood Symbiote
Deck Inclusions: 31,874 decks (1.02%)
Wirewood SymbioteWirewood Symbiote is a simple creature that allows you to bounce an Elf once per turn to untap a creature. Only being able to activate it once per turn does deter combos, but it's easy to bypass this by making Wirewood Symbiote an Elf.
Maskwood NexusMaskwood Nexus and Leyline of TransformationLeyline of Transformation provide simple ways to do this, and you can then untap Marwyn, the NurturerMarwyn, the Nurturer or another mana-producing creature to cover the mana. If the creature makes enough mana, you can repeatedly bounce Wirewood Symbiote using Temur SabertoothTemur Sabertooth alongside another Elf and cast them both.
Blinking options like Emiel the BlessedEmiel the Blessed also work wonders.
#5: Horizon Explorer
Deck Inclusions: 16,965 decks (3.62%)
Horizon ExplorerHorizon Explorer untaps lands as it enters, which is a profoundly strong effect when dealing with nonbasic lands. It's also the catalyst for many combos involving bounce lands (like Simic Growth ChamberSimic Growth Chamber), allowing them to tap for mana and bounce themselves.
Other lands that benefit from entering untapped include Echoing DeepsEchoing Deeps and MirrorpoolMirrorpool, enabling new combo possibilities for them alongside Aftermath AnalystAftermath Analyst and Lumra, Bellow of the WoodsLumra, Bellow of the Woods.
#4: Szarel, Genesis Shepherd
Deck Inclusions: 2,841 as commander (#675); 7,077 as card (5.52%)
Szarel, Genesis ShepherdSzarel, Genesis Shepherd was our standout card from Edge of Eternities, allowing you to both play lands from your graveyard and get a Mazirek-style effect with the possibility for more counters. The counters can easily counteract persist abilities, or be placed on Crystalline CrawlerCrystalline Crawler to make colored mana.
Speaking of persist creatures, Puppeteer CliquePuppeteer Clique is especially suited for the role, since you can sacrifice the creature it returns to remove Puppeteer Clique's -1/-1 counter without the need to sacrifice two persist creatures interchangeably.
#3: Luminous Broodmoth
Deck Inclusions: 71,758 decks (2.30%)
Luminous BroodmothLuminous Broodmoth is a unique card that gives your creatures a second lease on life...as long as they don't have flying. When a creature dies without flying, Luminous Broodmoth returns it to the battlefield with a flying counter. This feature serves a perfect counter for persist and undying abilities, as you can return the creature with the persist or undying ability, and then use the Luminous Broodmoth ability next, and alternate between the two.
Luminous Broodmoth can also give you a second round of products from a sacrifice outlet, enabling Reassembling SkeletonReassembling Skeleton to give you two mana each loop with Phyrexian AltarPhyrexian Altar. You can also stop the flying counters with SuncleanserSuncleanser or SolemnitySolemnity to infinitely sacrifice creatures.
#2: Springheart Nantuko
Deck Inclusions: 106,525 decks (4.38%)
Springheart NantukoSpringheart Nantuko has shown itself to be an amazing combo card, enabling over 300 combos by copying creatures it attaches to, or just making 1/1 Insects in some instances.
Springheart Nantuko can make copies of Dryad ArborDryad Arbor which will trigger Nantuko again when it enters. Overlord of the HauntwoodsOverlord of the Hauntwoods also works, creating an Everywhere land token which will then trigger Nantuko.
Instead of Dryad Arbor, you can also simply animate a land using a variety of options, and then bestow Springheart Nantuko onto it. The tokens that enter won't be tokens (unless you use a global effect such as Living PlaneLiving Plane), but they will be lands and create an infinite combo.
#1: Ant Queen
Deck Inclusions: 15,458 decks (0.50%)
It seems fitting that the Ant QueenAnt Queen will reign at the top of our Insect list, offering a similar effect to Sliver QueenSliver Queen in an easy and incredibly broken way to churn out numerous tokens. Since Ant Queen's cost only requires without other payments, covering this cost is very easy with cards like Cryptolith RiteCryptolith Rite, Concordant CrossroadsConcordant Crossroads, and token doublers.
Other options include Baylen, the HaymakerBaylen, the Haymaker and Jaheira, Friend of the ForestJaheira, Friend of the Forest to cover the mana needed. And you can never go wrong with the trusty Phyrexian AltarPhyrexian Altar for mana as well.
If you want to build an Insect deck, be sure to include the Queen and save yourself from her wrath.
Honorable Mentions
Looking for some other ways to bug your opponents? Here's a few more options:
1. Hornet QueenHornet Queen: The insect version of Myr BattlesphereMyr Battlesphere works great for blinking and infinite storm combos.
2. Icetill ExplorerIcetill Explorer: A card that lets you both play lands from your graveyard and play an additional land, perfect for Walk the AeonsWalk the Aeons.
3. Fumulus, the InfestationFumulus, the Infestation: Creates creature tokens when a nontoken creature dies, serving as a way to cover mana costs with mana sacrifice outlets.
Thank you very much for reading this edition of Wombo Combo, and don't forget to check out Commander Spellbook for more EDH combos and visit the Commander Spellbook Discord to vote on the next edition of Wombo Combo and to submit your own EDH combos.
Until next time, happy comboing!
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Ethan Coover
Ethan has been an avid EDH player since 2014 with the release of Core Set 2015. In 2021, he joined the Commander Spellbook project as an editor, and later a head-editor and moderator, and has assisted in the curation, updating and/or uploading of over 40,000 unique EDH combos and over 40 articles covering EDH's best combos.
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