Lady Octopus, Inspired InventorLady Octopus, Inspired Inventor | Art by Fariba Khamseh

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Omen MachineOmen Machine is the only artifact that can combo with multiple cards to keep players from drawing cards and casting spells?)

Hey, Marvel's Spider-Man brought us a cheaper JhoiraJhoira!

Wait. Wait! In the age where Competitive EDH decks are sporting more and more RograkhRograkhs and YoshimaruYoshimarus to turn on Fierce GuardianshipFierce Guardianships, Mox AmberMox Ambers, FlareFlares, Springleaf DrumSpringleaf Drums, and now Spider-SenseSpider-Senses... Does that mean that Lady OctopusLady Octopus might have legs in cEDH?

Well, she does cast her artifacts, instead of putting them onto the battlefield like Jhoira did, which is definitely a disadvantage in the world of the RhysticRhystic, MysticMystic, EsperEsper, MirrormadeMirrormade meta. She's also one fewer color, which is probably an even bigger disadvantage.

Still, is being one mana and also being able to stack counters much faster enough? To find out, I think we need to take a look at what artifacts we're trying to land.

Top 10 Mono-Blue Combos That Involve Expensive Artifacts

Criteria: Combos within the blue color identity that can either win the game the turn they're played or hard lock players out of it, and involve an artifact with a mana value of six or more while involving three cards or less.

As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

10. Chromatic OrreryChromatic Orrery, Rings of BrighthearthRings of Brighthearth, & Minamo, School at Water's EdgeMinamo, School at Water's Edge

(1,225 Inclusions)

Well, right off the bat, we've got a combo. Chromatic OrreryChromatic Orrery is the huge, broken artifact, supplying both ludicrous amounts of mana and cards. As for its combos? Long story short, if you can untap it repeatedly, it'll give you both infinite mana and draw.

This particular version of that very achievable goal utilizes Minamo, School at Water's EdgeMinamo, School at Water's Edge to provide the untap, and since Minamo can target itself, you can utilize Rings of BrighthearthRings of Brighthearth to untap itself and Orrery, ad infinitum.

With Orrery being on this list multiple times with similar shenanigans, and the fact that every blue cEDH deck plays Minamo to untap things like The One RingThe One Ring, really the only card that's taking up space for this combo is Rings of BrighthearthRings of Brighthearth, which can also double the activations of our Commander.

In other words, it'd be hard to find a better combo than this one (though we're going to try).

9. MindslaverMindslaver & Esoteric DuplicatorEsoteric Duplicator

(1,293 Inclusions)

And... this ain't it, fam. Don't get me wrong, I'm probably the biggest proponent of Iron ManIron Man and therefore Esoteric DuplicatorEsoteric Duplicator out there, but this combo requires six mana. For each opponent. Each turn. So yeah, it's possible to take everyone's turns for the rest of the game... if you have 18 mana sitting around.

Next!

8. Knowledge PoolKnowledge Pool & Soulless JailerSoulless Jailer

(1,466 Inclusions)

There's two big problems with this hard lock when it comes to Lady Octopus. First, it affects you, meaning you also won't be able to cast spells. This wouldn't matter so much with Jhoira, Ageless InnovatorJhoira, Ageless Innovator, as you could still keep on putting artifacts onto the battlefield. Lady's ability casts your artifacts, however, meaning she triggers Knowledge PoolKnowledge Pool. Therefore, Soulless JailerSoulless Jailer also applies to you and makes you unable to cast any noncreatures.

The second problem is that "noncreature" rider. While Jailer will stop a lot of things, it won't stop creatures, and more and more the current cEDH meta is actually extremely creature heavy.

In other words, while this lock of a combo might be easy to achieve with Lady, it would be an impossible spot to win from once you implemented it.

Next!

7. Knowledge PoolKnowledge Pool & Teferi, Mage of ZhalfirTeferi, Mage of Zhalfir

(1,568 Inclusions)

Oh hey, it's the same combo again, but without either of the two problems we just mentioned! While at first it doesn't appear like Teferi, Mage of ZhalfirTeferi, Mage of Zhalfir does anything with Knowledge PoolKnowledge Pool, the devil is in the details.

These particular details being that technically, when you cast things via Knowledge PoolKnowledge Pool, you're casting them at instant speed. This means that these two together ban your opponents from casting any spells, while you can continue on your merry way, and even cast your creatures at instant speed to boot!

Unfortunately, there are two different problems with this combo. The first is that Teferi isn't an artifact. That wouldn't be a big deal if he didn't also cost five mana, but that's our second problem: he does.

In other words, finding the time to cast a five-mana spell in a cEDH game is going to be difficult, even if we can land the other half of the combo for "free" with our commander.

This one is closer, but we can do better.

6. Chromatic OrreryChromatic Orrery & Filigree SagesFiligree Sages

(1,788 Inclusions)

Chromatic OrreryChromatic Orrery is the first huge combo piece we've instantly said yes to, so you might be surprised that I'm not that excited about this version of it. Well, the problem isn't Orrery. In combination with Orrery, Sages are an instant combo that immediately nets you infinite mana and cards.

The question is: What do Filigree Sages do without Chromatic Orrery? Sure, they're free with our commander, but afterwards it untaps for three mana a pop. In combination with pretty much everything that isn't Chromatic OrreryChromatic Orrery? That does pretty much nothing. Mana VaultMana Vault, Grim MonolithGrim Monolith, and Basalt MonolithBasalt Monolith, the usual cards you abuse with the usual artifactartifact untappersuntappers, all make three mana with no blue pip.

It can do some nonsense with The One RingThe One Ring, but that feels like tapping out to draw 10 cards and become scary, only to be unable to do anything with those 10 cards.

In other words, this one is probably right on the edge of the 99, but not quite there, unless we find another good use for Filigree Sages.

5. Chromatic OrreryChromatic Orrery, Rings of BrighthearthRings of Brighthearth, & Voltaic KeyVoltaic Key

(2,596 Inclusions)

Wait, didn't we already cover this combo? Well, yeah, pretty much. Thankfully, that "pretty much" is the boon here, as we've found yet another card that is generically great in our deck that combos with two cards we're already utilizing for another combo: Voltaic KeyVoltaic Key.

Like Minamo, School at Water's EdgeMinamo, School at Water's Edge, Voltaic Key can target itself, meaning you can copy its untap effect with Rings of BrighthearthRings of Brighthearth to untap itself and Chromatic Orrery, resulting in the same infinite mana and cards.

This phenomenon of multiple cards interacting to create the same game-winning combos is called "layering," and it's the sign that you're onto something good in a cEDH deck.

Having one combo means it being difficult to find and easily disruptable. Having multiple combo cards means your pieces are easier to incidentally draw into, and harder to disrupt as you have a backup plan for one of your pieces going missing.

4. Coveted JewelCoveted Jewel, Mystic SanctuaryMystic Sanctuary, & Ghostly FlickerGhostly Flicker

(2,682 Inclusions)

Nope! A three-card combo is typically a deal-breaker anyhow in cEDH, the exceptions being when either there are multiple combos with a card, or one or two of the necessary cards are cards that you would be playing anyhow.

Coveted JewelCoveted Jewel is a card we will be playing, as it's an expensive artifact that draws three cards upon entering that we can land at instant speed with our commander, which then taps for three mana immediately. With that said, the issue here is the other two cards.

Every new cEDH brewer that dabbles in mono-blue likes to throw in High TideHigh Tide and Mystic SanctuaryMystic Sanctuary, but in my experience, they're the first cards to come right back out. With how fast the cEDH environment is, and how many utility lands there are that are almost necessary to play, it's just difficult to get down enough Islands for either card to do anything meaningful before the game is over.

It can be done in a control brew, but it still feels awful to draw either card in the early game.

As for the last card? In short, we have no use for Ghostly FlickerGhostly Flicker. It's an active non-bo with our commander, and while it could untap some artifacts, it has the Filigree SagesFiligree Sages problem for the same amount of mana.

Pass.

3. Contagion EngineContagion Engine, Magistrate's ScepterMagistrate's Scepter, & Tekuthal, Inquiry DominusTekuthal, Inquiry Dominus

(3,025 Inclusions)

At first glance, it looks like we've got something here. Both Contagion EngineContagion Engine and TekuthalTekuthal help us proliferate our commander's ingenuity counters, and then delve straight on ahead to give us infinite turns with Magistrate's ScepterMagistrate's Scepter.

Here are the problems. By the time we can land Contagion EngineContagion Engine, we don't need to be proliferating more counters on our commander, and Tekuthal is a four-mana eyesore that does absolutely nothing when it hits the table by itself. Combine that with both Engine and Scepter needing four mana to do their respective things, and this is just a flat no.

Keep it in casual, folks.

2. Coveted JewelCoveted Jewel, Ghostly FlickerGhostly Flicker, & ArchaeomancerArchaeomancer

(3,502 Inclusions)

Oh hey look, an almost identical Coveted JewelCoveted Jewel combo that plays even more expensive pieces that don't do anything for our deck!

How about we ignore that and talk about what we're going to do with Jewel instead?

To be clear, Displacer KittenDisplacer Kitten doesn't go infinite with Jewel. All it does is provide non-deterministic synergy that often results in winning. Each cast of a noncreature spell lets you flicker Jewel, which then draws three cards and provides three mana. Provided you draw a noncreature spell you can cast for three mana or less, your loop continues, with the amount of mana you have increasing if the spell you cast is for less than three.

If that doesn't happen? You might be looking awkwardly at a table that realizes they should be dead by now, and that they can now attack you to draw three cards and get three mana.

In my experience, most times you just win. If not outright by drawing your whole deck into a Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle, then by simply... drawing a lot of your deck and gaining a lot of mana. Seems good?

1. Mycosynth LatticeMycosynth Lattice & Karn, the Great CreatorKarn, the Great Creator

(19,132 Inclusions)

For those that haven't run into this delightful lock before, Mycosynth LatticeMycosynth Lattice makes all permanents into artifacts, and Karn, the Great CreatorKarn, the Great Creator makes it so none of your opponents' "artifacts" can activate their abilities. In practice, this locks opponents out of the game, as they lack any means to add mana, given that neither their lands nor mana rocks work.

That said, you get to keep on doing things while your opponents simply swing at you and pass turn, so your odds are good if you land this lock. The question is, is this two-card combo that doesn't actually win the game worth the inclusion of a card that does little to nothing for you?

Karn slows down opponents fine, but all Mycosynth LatticeMycosynth Lattice does outside of this combo is make your commander into an artifact so you can untap her with Voltaic KeyVoltaic Key and the like. For me, that's not enough.

We have two combos already figured out that are more or less seamless, meaning they add zero bad cards to the deck. That means the only dead card we have in the whole 100 is Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle, and we only have that so that we can actually win the game. In other words? We've managed "NoBadCards.dec," and we're not giving that up for even the most popular combo we can find.

Honorable Mentions

Just in case, though, is there another combo we need to look at?

In short, no. A couple are close, though: Omen MachineOmen Machine does arguably an even better lock than Knowledge PoolKnowledge Pool, with the exact same cards and the exact same problems. Phyrexian DevourerPhyrexian Devourer is a two-card combo with Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle, but does absolutely nothing if you don't have both cards.

There is a card we haven't touched on that plays well with the deck in general and also goes nuts with Chromatic OrreryChromatic Orrery, however: Drafna, Founder of Lat-NamDrafna, Founder of Lat-Nam.

Drafna is most well-known for the things he does with Urza, Lord High ArtificerUrza, Lord High Artificer, but his combo list is actually quite a bit longer than that. What Drafna can do for us, however, is bounce KeysKeys to our hand repeatedly while we have Chromatic Orrery in play, letting us replay them to get - you guessed it - infinite mana and card draw.

While not a combo, another synergy Drafna has is to allow us to repeatedly bounce Coveted JewelCoveted Jewel, putting it in our hand if someone attacks us, to be replayed later with our commander to draw more cards and add more mana. It's no Displacer KittenDisplacer Kitten, but it'll do in a pinch!

But enough talk. Here's the deck list.

Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor cEDH Deck List

Normally these Competitive EDH articles I have end with me asking people if they think the deck is good enough to stand up at a cEDH table. I'm not going to do that this time, however, because I can tell you, over 20 hours of playtesting, that this deck already has.

While it's not yet legal in tournaments, I can easily say that this thing can show up and win. It draws cards like it's going out of style, always has interaction, and always seems to have a chance if you're smart enough to not mess it up.

So, I'm not asking, I'm telling: If you're a cEDH player who loves the control playstyle of always having 20 cards in hand, three counterspells, and a win somewhere around the corner, give this list a try. I'm not saying it's perfect. I'm not saying that there's things that don't still need to be tested and tweaked. I'm just saying that the deck is good, and can more than compete.

It routinely puts up win attempts on turns five and six, and even more routinely has relevant engines and interaction going by turn two. Lady stacks counters and throws down haymakers at instant speed, all while every other blue card provides interaction or card draw to keep it all moving in the right direction.

Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall Commander Spellbook search.

What Do You Think?

Another thing I can tell you from playtesting is that Lady is in no way my playstyle. So... is it yours?

And finally, what's your favorite combo involving an expensive artifact? Is it good enough for a cEDH table? Do you want to try out Lady, and if so, are there any combos we went over today that you would include in the deck (that I didn't)?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the 75 foot Smart Table™ we just got second-hand from Jeff Bezos.

Read More: