Wombo Combo - Best Jund Combos in EDH
(Slimefoot and Squee | Art by Victor Adame Minguez)
A Jund-erful Combination
Welcome back to Wombo Combo, the episodic series where we explore the best combo cards in each distinct color identity, with help from Commander Spellbook and EDHREC. This edition marks the first in our 3-color series, and features a combination that is a meme in Modern, but a strong contender in Commander. This combination combines black, red and green into the trio called Jund.
Jund combines the three colors in a variety of ways to create unique commander options that can catch your opponents off guard. Some of these strategies include token generation, landfall, mana burn (we will discuss this later if you don't know what this is), and sacrificing creatures among others. Jund also has a plethora of Dragon commanders to choose from, making it a great option for a Dragon themed deck without expanding into five-color options. Let's take a look at the Jund-ers that await us, and find the best Jund combo cards for your next deck!
#10: Sprouting Thrinax
Deck Inclusions: 6,721 decks (1.727%)
Creatures generating tokens when entering or leaving the battlefield are staple cards in token decks. Sprouting Thrinax is a great option to fill that slot. For three mana, you get a 3/3 creature that creates three 1/1 Saproling tokens when it dies. This is great value, especially for token decks who could easily multiply those three tokens for even more value. It also works amazingly for combos, such as using a mana sacrifice outlet and Nim Deathmantle. The most popular combo card to pair with Sprouting Thrinax is by far Slimefoot and Squee, accounting for over half of decks containing Sprouting Thrinax.
#8: Dragon Appeasement
Deck Inclusions: 238 decks (0.061%)
We've covered our fair share of largely unused cards with great combo potential, and Dragon Appeasement fits that bill. Being able to draw a card whenever you sacrifice a creature is a strong upside to tack onto your existing sac outlet. It also creates an amazingly easily combo with cards like The Locust God which simply replenish the creature that you sacrificed when you draw the card. You can also use it to take advantage of dredge abilities, such as that of Golgari Thug. The main reasons Dragon Appeasement doesn't see play is its mana cost and the drawback of skipping your draw step. There are also cheaper and better alternatives, one of which we will cover later in this article.
#8: Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper
Deck Inclusions: 1,256 as commander (#789); 1,620 as card (0.416%)
Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper allows you to replenish your army when they die, by creating a 3/1 Graveborn whenever you have a nontoken creature die. Sek'Kuar allows any other nontoken creature to go infinite with Nim Deathmantle and Ashnod's Altar, allowing you to take advantage of your choice of enter-the-battlefield (ETB) or leave-the-battlefield (LTB) abilities. For example, sacrificing Junji, the Midnight Sky leads to an immediate end to the game thanks to Sek'Kuar. Sek'Kuar can also create an infinite combo with Nether Traitor and Cryptolith Rite, tapping the Graveborn for mana and then sacrificing it to return Nether Traitor.
#7: Soul of Windgrace
Deck Inclusions: 3,570 as commander (#316); 6,555 as card (1.86%)
Soul of Windgrace gives you the unique opportunity to play a landfall deck and a discard deck in tandem. Soul of Windgrace has three abilities that lets you discard land cards, and then a triggered ability to bring those lands back to the battlefield. This allows you to play an extra land each turn as long as Soul of Windgrace attacks. Soul of Windgrace's abilities also have combo potential with cards like Bone Miser, Dakmor Salvage and Surly Badgersaur. Adding an ability cost reducer like Agatha of the Vile Cauldron helps to make comboing even easier and cheaper.
#6: Charnelhoard Wurm
Deck Inclusions: 1,660 decks (0.426%)
Charnelhoard Wurm is my pick for the most underrated combo card Jund has to offer. Charnelhoard Wurm does have a steep cost, but also a powerful ability which returns a card from your graveyard to your hand whenever it deals damage to an opponent. Part of Charnelhoard Wurm's combo ability is that it says *damage*, meaning that any method of damage counts, not just combat damage. While combat damage can be used for combos involving extra turn cards, or cards like Relentless Assault, you can also pair Charnelhoard Wurm with damage enablers like Viridian Longbow to easily make a repeatable combo.
#5: Prossh, Skyraider of Kher
Deck Inclusions: 4,324 as commander (#261); 5,728 as card (1.472%)
If you like Dragons and having a sacrifice outlet in the command zone, then Prossh, Skyraider of Kher may be the perfect commander for you. Prossh is also an excellent choice for a token deck, creating a 0/1 Kobolds of Kher Keep token for each mana you spend to cast it. So every time you cast it from the command zone, you will generate two more tokens due to the increase in commander tax. Sacrifice outlets, by nature, are the backbone of most creature based combos. Prossh's first ability can create a simple two-card combo with Food Chain, taking advantage of Prossh's ramping token creation. You may also combo Prossh by including two more sacrifice outlets in Ashnod's Altar and Phyrexian Altar to get enough mana to cast Prossh again. Prossh works best as a combo piece if it is your commander, but it is still a good include for a Dragon or token deck for added redundancy.
#4: Bhaal, Lord of Murder
Deck Inclusions: 1,061 as commander (#874); 1,540 as card (0.396%)
Bhaal, Lord of Murder has a simple ability that puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature and goads it whenever a nontoken creature you control dies. The first step to taking advantage of this is to add cards that can take advantage of the +1/+1 counter, such as Crystalline Crawler. The second is to pick a card with recursive possibilities, such as Gravecrawler or Cult Conscript. From here you can add your favorite sacrifice outlet and/or another outlet like Blood Artist to easily create an infinite combo that ends the game. Bonus points if you include Bitter Ordeal with your Gravecrawler combo for a one-of-a-kind storm combo.
#3: Yurlok of Scorch Thrash
Deck Inclusions: 5,269 as commander (#197); 2,424 as card (0.623%)
If you ask an original Magic player what they think when you say "mana burn", they may say that they loved it, or that they hated it. In case you are unfamiliar, "mana burn" was a game rule prior to Magic 2010 which stated that a player losing unspent mana causes them to lose that much life. Upon saying that, you can immediately see where Yurlok of Scorch Thrash fits into that, as it essentially reinstates the long dead "mana burn" rule. Yurlok is an easy combo piece alongside untappers such as Umbral Mantle if you increase the mana it adds, which can easily be accomplished with a card like Leyline of Abundance. Once you do this a large number of times, you will also give your opponents a large amount of mana. From there, move to the next step or phase, causing your opponents to die to mana burn. If you miss the "mana burn" rule, then Yurlok is the perfect commander for you.
#2: Korvold, Fae-Cursed King
Deck Inclusions: 14,763 as commander (#21); 16,075 as card (4.13%)
Earlier we looked at Dragon Appeasement, and I mentioned there were better and cheaper alternatives. Well, we have come to that alternative in Korvold, Fae-Cursed King. Korvold has a similar ability to Dragon Appeasement, but with some notable differences. First, Korvold's ability triggers for any permanent versus just creatures. Second, Korvold does not have the "Skip your draw step" drawback that Dragon Appeasement had. Third, Korvold costs one mana less and can be housed in the command zone. While you do have to sacrifice a permanent when Korvold enters the battlefield, this is much less of a drawback than skipping your draw step in the long run. Korvold has many of the same combo possibilities as Dragon Appeasement, but the extra +1/+1 counter placement opens up options with Animation Module.
#1: Slimefoot and Squee
Deck Inclusions: 5,984 as commander (#152); 3,423 as card (1.234%)
Our #1 spot goes to a newer card featuring two popular creatures put together. Slimefoot and Squee takes elements from both Slimefoot, the Stowaway and Squee, Dubious Monarch into one very strong card. Slimefoot and Squee has very strong combo potential by returning token generators or mana generators to reciprocate the base combo alongside a sacrifice outlet. Cards like Sprouting Thrinax, Dockside Extortionist, Golgari Germination, Pitiless Plunderer and more enable these combos with ease. Slimefoot and Squee also harmonizes great with the original Slimefoot as an easy way to end the game. Alternatively, you can add your own favorite payoff card to win the game with many options. While Slimefoot and Squee seem like an unlikely pairing, their combination of effects proves to be the best option for combos in Jund.
Honorable Mentions
These cards didn't quite make the list, but can still create a roar of offense in your next deck:
1. Kresh the Bloodbraided: A simple yet powerful effect that works great for cards like Animation Module.
2. Henzie "Toolbox" Torre: Henzie allows to blitz out creatures for cheap, especially those like Ancestral Statue. Henzie pairs well with bouncers like Temur Sabertooth.
3. Adun Oakenshield: An easy way to recur creature cards, and works well for large mana producers like Dockside Extortionist.
4. Xira, the Golden Sting: A great way to get infinite combat phases when paired with Breath of Fury.
5. Darigaaz's Attendant: An interesting sleeper card that works well with token generators like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.
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. 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 10,000 unique EDH combos. In his spare time, Ethan loves coming up with new jank EDH lines, playing video games, and going for long walks.
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