Hope EstheimHope Estheim | 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 Parallax WaveParallax Wave combos are the only combos in Azorius that will allow you to blink your opponents' creatures indefinitely?)

This just in: The character that reminds you of all of the worst parts of yourself during your teenage years is really good.

Hope EstheimHope Estheim, aside from being a very accurate depiction of a self-defeating teenager who refuses to talk to anyone about their problems despite the fact that basic communication would clear many of them up, is also a cheap commander with a trigger that will mill your opponents.

While I'm not typically the biggest fan of cards that mill just your opponents, I do think there's a pretty aggressive lane here for Hope that might just mill out all of your opponents' decks at once, however:

For those not familiar with the concept of "Soul Sisters," they're decks that have historically been built around Soul WardenSoul Warden and Soul's AttendantSoul's Attendant.

Modern Horizons 3, however, brought us Guide of SoulsGuide of Souls, which is a new, strictly better version of Soul WardenSoul Warden and Soul's AttendantSoul's Attendant. It can not only gain you the life that its predecessors do in the exact same fashion, but will also garner you energy that you can then spend on making your creatures huge, flying Angels.

Here's the thing, though: Hope doesn't actually care about your opponents casting creatures, for the most part. Why? Because most opponents cast creatures during their turns, and Hope's end step trigger to mill folks only triggers during your end step.

So what is the best Soul Sister for Hope specifically? I would say Ajani's WelcomeAjani's Welcome, as it's more difficult to remove as an enchantment, and still gains you the life for your own creatures.

Which all seems fine and good for Hope decks that are trying to mill their opponents out, getting in some chip mill here and there as you put down creatures. But what if you could mill your opponents out... all at once?

Criteria: Two-card combos within the Azorius color identity that result in infinitely having at least one creature enter the battlefield repeatedly, during your turn, without also drawing the game.

Said combos can involve a prerequisite of lands creating mana, and limited prerequisites of artifacts creating mana of two or less, but cannot contain a prerequisite that creatures create mana, as that is unlikely to be readily obtainable in Azorius.

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

Top 10 Azorius Enters Combos

10. OpalescenceOpalescence & Parallax WaveParallax Wave

(1,234 Inclusions)

That's right, the original ReplenishReplenish combo that kicked off a second Combo Winter in Standard back in the year 2000 is still around and kicking.

For those not seeing it immediately, when Parallax WaveParallax Wave becomes a creature, it can target itself. This not only means that it can infinitely blink itself, but also your other creatures. Take it even further, and it can also target itself in response to targeting your opponents' creatures, exiling them forever as by the time you exile your opponents' creatures with the remaining ability on the stack, the leaves play trigger has already resolved.

Even better, OpalescenceOpalescence is not the only card that can set off this interaction with Parallax WaveParallax Wave. There's also Starfield of NyxStarfield of Nyx, Felidar GuardianFelidar Guardian, and Astral DragonAstral Dragon.

Even even better, Parallax Wave isn't the only card that combos with Opalescence (more on this later)! Throw in that most of the cards I've just listed or alluded to also have extra combos themselves, and suddenly a brew where you have combo cards that layer with multiple other combo cards seems very possible.

9. Enduring RenewalEnduring Renewal & Ashnod's AltarAshnod's Altar

(1,361 Inclusions)

This one isn't truly a two-card combo, as you must have a colorless two-mana-or-less creature. With that said, if the creature costs one or less, then you can actually get infinite mana here in addition to the infinite enters triggers we're looking for to abuse the Soul SistersSoul Sisters.

Cool as that is, however, I'm not sure that I'm a fan of this combo. Enduring RenewalEnduring Renewal is one of the riskiest cards you can play in Magic, stopping draws with abandon and maybe doing nothing at all if you get your board exiled or your graveyard removed.

All in all, we'd actually be better served here choosing one of the plethora of other combos with Ashnod's AltarAshnod's Altar, rather than trying to press forward with this.

8. Touch the Spirit RealmTouch the Spirit Realm & Starfield of NyxStarfield of Nyx

(2,114 Inclusions)

As previously mentioned, there are any number of layered combo pieces that combo with other things available in the OpalescenceOpalescence/Parallax WaveParallax Wave cinematic universe. Among those is backup OpalescenceOpalescence, Starfield of NyxStarfield of Nyx, and Touch the Spirit RealmTouch the Spirit Realm.

With Touch (or Journey to NowhereJourney to Nowhere) being a creature due to Starfield (or Opalescence), it can target itself, exiling itself until it leaves the battlefield, where it then returns itself to the battlefield, where it can once again exile itself until it returns, ad infinitum.

In other words, if we're already on the Parallax WaveParallax Wave plan, we're probably also already on the Starfield/Touch/Journey plan as well.

7. PalinchronPalinchron & PanharmoniconPanharmonicon

(2,366 Inclusions)

If you were looking for another option that goes infinite with a ham sandwich, however, then there's always PalinchronPalinchron. With both the oft-abused Urza's Saga untap ability and a means to return it to your hand stapled to the same card, PalinchronPalinchron really just needs some lands that tap for multiple mana to go nuts.

If you're short on Ancient TombAncient Tombs, Lotus FieldLotus Fields, and Coral AtollCoral Atolls, then you can always sub in PanharmoniconPanharmonicon instead. While this combo doesn't seem as sure a thing as some of the layered stuff that we've covered, it is still pretty solid for a build that's focused on ramping out fast and hard, getting to seven-plus mana.

6. Astral DragonAstral Dragon & Machine God's EffigyMachine God's Effigy

(2,538 Inclusions)

Astral DragonAstral Dragon is yet another huge blue creature that does nuts things basically all on its own, and we've already alluded to the fact that it also goes infinite with Parallax WaveParallax Wave. Additionally, it goes infinite with the other cards we've covered that go infinite with OpalescenceOpalescence and Starfield of NyxStarfield of Nyx, only it can also do any Oblivion RingOblivion Ring that doesn't have the "an opponent controls" rider.

One that we haven't covered in all these layered combos, however, is Machine God's EffigyMachine God's Effigy. It doesn't go crazy with Opalescence, Starfield, or even Parallax Wave, but it does go crazy with Astral DragonAstral Dragon, as we're covering, and also Felidar GuardianFelidar Guardian.

In other words? Add this one to the list! And then wonder if this list might be getting too long?

5. Brago, King EternalBrago, King Eternal & Strionic ResonatorStrionic Resonator

(10,409 Inclusions)

The oldest trick in the book when it comes to Brago, King EternalBrago, King Eternal is to wait to untap with him (something that should already be prevented at all costs), and then land a Strionic ResonatorStrionic Resonator. This allows you to go to combat, put Brago's trigger on the stack, then activate Resonator in response, copying said trigger. Resolve the blink, targeting the Resonator and a couple mana rocks, and you can activate it again indefinitely as you continue to copy the trigger.

Which is all well and good, and something you should be shooting for in your Bracket 4 Brago. For our purposes, however, having to find Brago and Resonator in the deck is already asking a lot. Brago having to survive till he no longer has summoning sickness? That's just asking too much.

4. Naru Meha, Master WizardNaru Meha, Master Wizard & Ghostly FlickerGhostly Flicker

(11,113 Inclusions)

Naru Meha, Master WizardNaru Meha, Master Wizard is yet another blue card that goes infinite with a ham sandwich - the sandwich in question this time being any instant or sorcery that can blink or copy Naru Meha.

That's great, and I'd start a second list, except there's one major restriction with Naru Meha: You have to do all this at once. That means, unlike our still fairly expensive four-mana combos involving various Opalescences and blink enablers, you can't put part of the combo down one turn and then untap to finish it off. You instead have to have the mana right then to cast both the spell you want to copy and Naru Meha - an expensive proposition.

3. Ondu SpiritdancerOndu Spiritdancer & Secret Arcade // Dusty ParlorSecret Arcade // Dusty Parlor

(12,747 Inclusions)

Ondu SpiritdancerOndu Spiritdancer and Secret Arcade // Dusty ParlorSecret Arcade // Dusty Parlor are today's overachievers, granting us not only the infinite enters triggers that we've been seeking, but also the infinite tokens that facilitate them. My only issue with all that upside? It comes at a price of everything costing five, instead of the four-mana entries we have littering the list so far.

With that said, there is a lot of layering here as well, as Spiritdancer goes infinite with Enchanted EveningEnchanted Evening in addition to Secret Arcade, and Secret Arcade goes infinite with Ghostly DancersGhostly Dancers, Archon of Sun's GraceArchon of Sun's Grace, and probably best of all, Gremlin TamerGremlin Tamer.

Which makes me wonder, as this list of enchantments gets longer and longer, whether we've actually got an EnchantressEnchantress brew here. Worth looking into!

2. Peregrine DrakePeregrine Drake & Deadeye NavigatorDeadeye Navigator

(30,390 Inclusions)

The original Commander card known for being combo-tastic, Deadeye NavigatorDeadeye Navigator, features yet another of the Urza's Saga untap lands cycle blue creatures. Peregrine DrakePeregrine Drake can't break itself like PalinchronPalinchron can, but is a much more reasonable cost at five mana. Even better, once you untap your lands off of its ETB, you can slam down Deadeye immediately and you only need two mana leftover to start the shenanigans.

With all that said, that's kind of the best case scenario, and it still needs eight untapped mana. You could also play down Navigator first, pair it with something else, then play down the Drake and use the untapped lands to then pay for Navigator's ability, blinking it and then pairing it up with the Drake.

That requires the table to leave a Navigator on the board for a full turn cycle, however - something that seems exceedingly unlikely.

1. Felidar GuardianFelidar Guardian & Restoration AngelRestoration Angel

(33,249 Inclusions)

And with that, we've come full circle, getting all the way back to one of our first mentions of a card that combos with Parallax WaveParallax Wave, Felidar GuardianFelidar Guardian. Far from only interacting with enchantments, Blink Cat's basic functionality is usually to target creatures, which happens to be something that Restoration AngelRestoration Angel can do as well. Pair them together, and now they're indefinitely blinking each other, causing the infinite ETBs we've been looking for.

The true brokenness of these two? They don't just go infinite with each other.

Restoration AngelRestoration Angel's non-Angel rider makes things a bit more complex, but can still go infinite with Icewind StalwartIcewind Stalwart. Felidar Guardian? Any copy creature will do, making itself a copy of the Cat and then blinking the original, which will come back and blink the copy, which will blink the Cat, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Honorable Mentions

We've talked about a lot of combos today, and they've unfortunately all had one thing in common: They're expensive, mana-wise.

With that in mind, I wanted to cover one more that might need to be considered, because its component pieces are fairly cheap. Shrieking DrakeShrieking Drake is probably a welcome sight in any deck looking to abuse ETBs to start with, and can go infinite with Oltec MatterweaverOltec Matterweaver if you have a Treasure available, something that's fairly achievable by just about any deck these days.

Combine that with a deck that looks to be a bit heavy on creatures anyhow, and Oltec MatterweaverOltec Matterweaver also seems like a generically good include on its own. In other words, throwing these two in a deck seems fairly trivial, and might just result in some early wins if you get lucky.

With that said, I was originally thinking that we might have a cEDH opportunity here, so I went a bit more hardcore with the deck list:

Hope Estheim Commander Deck List

To be extensively clear, we're not good enough for Competitive EDH. Hope EstheimHope Estheim is a cheap commander that can easily turn on free interaction, and Azorius is very good at abusing blink nonsense. With that said, the Enchantresses aren't really good enough in the colors to keep up with the average cEDH table, and the necessary addition of the Soul Sisters to each of our various two-card combos is just a bit of a bridge too far.

What I do think could be done with this list, however, is a bit more of a focus on Enchantress shenanigans to make this into a really fun Bracket 4 brew.

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 Commander Spellbook knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

What Do You Think?

Call it a pet card if you will, but I've always been a bit perplexed by the lack of Parallax WaveParallax Wave in Commander. It's still an amazing removal spell at the lower power levels, and combos with all sorts of things in the same way it did back in the days of Combo Winter 2.0.

And finally, what is your favorite ETB combo? Is your payoff Soul Sisters? Are you brewing Hope EstheimHope Estheim, and if so, how?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the table that appears to be rapidly flickering in and out of existence, a la a fluorescent lightbulb.