March of the Machines provided the Pioneer format with many new spicy cards to brew with, and after I heard about this particular new combo, I knew I had to try it. I enjoy interactive gameplay, so I’m usually not a combo player. However, this new deck allows me to play with awesome pioneer cards that have yet to see the limelight, and it is a tough deck to interact with.
The Rona combo deck has started making some splashes, but it is far from being figured out. It has started seeing some success in the new RCQ season, but many people are still married to the pioneer decks that they already know, so it isn’t as widely played yet.
It is still up for debate over which version of the deck is the most powerful, but at this point, most people agree that Sultai is the best colors for this deck. I know Todd Anderson has been doing a lot of great work on this deck, and he has a bunch of great videos premiering the deck that you can check out on YouTube.
How Does the Combo Work?
The combo may seem difficult at first, but trust me; it is actually straightforward once you do it. After only playing one game with this deck, I fully understood the combo, and it hasn’t taken much work to figure out the best way to get there.
The combo starts with the namesake of the deck, Rona, Herald of Invasion, from the new March of the Machines set. Rona serves several functions in this deck, but for the combo, let’s focus on her first line of text; “Whenever you cast a legendary spell, untap Rona, Herald of Invasion.”
Once we have Rona on the battlefield, we need a legendary artifact to cast: Mox Amber. When we cast Mox Amber, we untap Rona, and then we can tap the Mox Amber for blue mana.
To make this repeatable, we cast Retraction Helix on Rona. This now allows us to tap Rona to return Mox Amber to our hand, which we can then cast to untap Rona, tap for blue mana, and repeat the process. This gives us infinite blue mana, cast triggers, and enter the battlefield triggers.
There are several ways this can lead to a combo win, but for now, let’s concentrate on the primary way that people are accomplishing it. The card that wins us the game is Diligent Excavator. Once this is on the battlefield, we repeatedly cast Mox Amber until we mill out our opponent.
This is essentially the game plan. The goal is to make infinite mana, then use that mana to find your wincon and end the game, all in one turn. I know a four-card combo scares a lot of people, but this deck is well equipped to loot through our deck to find our essential pieces and end the game quickly. It is possible to accomplish this as early as turn three, and I am still figuring out a way to win on turn two.
How do I find all the pieces?
I’m going to start with one of the most powerful cards in this deck and the reason why it has to be Sultai. Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler does everything you want it to in this deck. Not only does it allow you to filter through your deck to find your combo pieces, but it also lets you combo off with Rona even if she has summoning sickness, and it can also untap your creatures to continue looting.
Tyvar does a lot more than meets the eye in this deck. He is also a part of the combo. Let’s say you combo off on turn three with Rona and Tyvar in play. Mox Amber now can tap for blue, black, or green mana, so you can create infinite Sultai mana. Once you do that, instead of bouncing the Mox Amber back to your hand, bounce Tyvar to your hand.
Now cast Tyvar, which untaps Rona, and then use his minus ability to mill three and return a creature. If you hit Diligent Excavator, congratulations, you win the game. If you don’t, simply return Tyvar back to hand with Rona and continue the process until you find your Excavator and end the game.
Not only does Tyvar work well with Rona and Diligent Excavator, but there is another powerful two-drop creature that hasn’t seen much play since the Standard Format of 2015. Once a $100 card, Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy has returned!
Jace is one of the main reasons why I picked up this deck. Being able to minus Tyvar to find Jace, then immediately activate Jace and flip him into a planeswalker is one of the most fun things you can do in Pioneer right now.
Having a turn three Tyvar and Jace on the battlefield usually isn’t good news for your opponent, as you are going to accrue value at a tremendous rate and, even without the combo, your opponent will have trouble keeping up with your card advantage.
These last cards that help us find the combo are still under debate in the community, but they’re another reason I love playing this deck. Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time are well known for being banned in almost every format, but for some reason, they have yet to break Pioneer too badly.
Rona Combo might just be what ends the careers of these cards in Pioneer. This deck dumps a lot of cards into the graveyard, and it’s not hard at all to cast multiple of these in a game. Treasure Cruise is very powerful for this deck, as it can sometimes be an Ancestral Recall and be flashed back with Jace.
While Treasure Cruise is effective and is the choice for many players, I have found much more success with Dig Through Time. It may cost an additional blue mana to cast, but I have found that most of the time, I have blue mana to spare, and I would much rather pick two cards out of the top seven than just draw three random cards.
The main argument for playing Treasure Cruise over Dig Through Time is that it allows you to play Jegantha, and this is a solid argument. Having an extra card every game is compelling; sometimes it even allows you to combo off easier. At its worst, sometimes it’s just a free 5/5 beater you can get with your infinite mana.
While I understand why people favor playing with Jegantha, having Dig Through Time allows your combo to go off much easier, winning you more games quicker. I would rather find my combo and end the game than put a 5/5 into play. And, above all else, I love playing Dig Through Time.
other wincons
There is another way to win with this deck, but it can only be done after sideboarding, and it is so convoluted that I’m unsure if I will ever pull it off. The combo involves Cankerbloom, the green Disenchant creature from Phyrexia: All Will Be One.
Let’s say you have no Diligent Excavators left in your deck. You have to get the combo online, and then get Jace and Tyvar onto the battlefield. You can sacrifice Cankerbloom to proliferate, and then use Tyvar to return Cankerbloom to the battlefield.
Then sacrifice Cankerbloom again, proliferate, recast Tyvar with the combo, and repeat. Eventually, you will have proliferated enough times to use Jace’s ultimate ability and then continue casting Mox Amber to mill your opponent.
I know it’s not the easiest way to win, but having a plan B is nice. There is a plan C with this deck as well: flip Rona and attack your opponent enough times that they die. Also, not the cleanest way to win, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Outside of this, a couple of other decks use the combo to win in other ways. One way is to use Kinnan and Reality Chip to dig through your deck until you find Karn, which lets you find Aetherflux Reservoir to gain infinite life and deal infinite damage. I love this idea, but as of right now, I’m too in love with playing Jace and Dig Through Time.
The other way is to play Thassa’s Oracle and mill yourself with Tyvar to win, but this way isn’t widely used in the community. It doesn’t allow you to play Jegantha, and Diligent Excavator has other uses, such as milling yourself to play Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time easier.
Final Thoughts
If you are considering playing this deck, I highly suggest you follow Todd Anderson and watch some of his content. He seems to be the one spearheading this deck and has tried many different versions that appeal to many people.
As I said, I am intrigued by the Kinnan build of this deck, but as of right now, I am going to see where I can get with Jace. I have tried the deck both with and without Jegantha, and I didn’t see Jegantha make much of a difference, but I definitely feel a power difference between casting Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time.
Rona Combo seems to have an excellent matchup against many decks, since some of its matchups just can’t react well to what it’s doing. Decks with no interactions usually have a lot of trouble against this deck, as you can combo off without any worry about your creature being killed in response.
Even if your opponent has removal, it feels great to return Jace or Rona to the battlefield with Tyvar after your opponent wastes a removal spell on it. It is also nice that Bonecrusher Giant cannot kill Rona with Stomp. If I were going to give you a reason why this combo deck is better than others, it would be resiliency.
Tyvar buys back all of your essential creatures and generates insane value. Jace and Rona dig through your deck to find your pieces. Your flipped Jace can even recast a Retraction Helix if need be. It is very demoralizing for your opponent to use their entire hand to kill your board and then bring it right back.
Some matchups in Pioneer are very much two ships passing in the night. It sometimes feels like whoever combos off first wins the game against decks like Lotus Field, Greasefang, Neoform, and Creativity.
But of course, the final reason why I love playing this deck is because it is a Thoughseize deck. Why wouldn’t you play a card that gives you perfect information, stops your opponent from doing their thing, and allows you to do your thing? It’s no wonder Thoughtseize is my favorite card in all of Magic.
You can also find the decklist here.
Comments