Amalia blows up the World! - Amalia Combo - Pioneer Deck Tech & Primer

Pioneer players have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Combo decks - mostly, some love to hate on them! However, Combo has been a staple of the format since it's inception, and Lost Caverns of Ixalan gave us the latest Creature-based entry into it's long history of Combo decks with the Abzan Amalia Combo, also known as the Explore Combo! With the ability to explore itself into a board wipe with a living attacker for 20 as soon as Turn 3, this deck is a serious contender for the RCQ Season!
Learn how the deck is built, what sideboard cards it looks to leverage, and learn how to C-c-c-c-Combo with this video Primer on the archetype!
Deck overview done for the 2024-2025 RCQ Season Round 3, Qualifying for Regional Championships held in Q3 of 2024.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00:00 - Intro, History of Combo in Pioneer
00:01:45 - What kind of Deck is Amalia?
00:02:39 - What are our Combo Pieces?
00:03:54 - How the Combo works & Combo Math
00:07:08 - Draw games, why & what happens
00:07:48 - Tools to win outside Amalia
00:09:12 - How do we start our Combo?
00:09:42 - Maindeck - Combo enabling Creatures
00:11:41 - Maindeck - Spells to find our Creatures
00:15:05 - Flex slot discussion & CoCo Math
00:15:41 - Maindeck - Flex slot Creatures
00:18:45 - Maindeck - Lands
00:19:57 - Sideboard Breakdown
00:24:52 - Amalia Play Patterns & Common Lines
00:27:13 - Matchup Overview
00:29:20 - Tips on Comboing Competitively
00:30:40 - Outro
Example Decklist: www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/6443...
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[@zettaslowable]

Nice T-shirt.

[@VincentVeak]

Just wanted to say thanks for making these primers. As a returning player these guys keep me informed of the Pioneer meta while also providing excellent insights past the typical "this is what the deck does"

[@optimustomtv]

Hell yeah! Welcome back to the format, and thanks for the kind words! I'm happy that they're hitting the mark for players in your position - it's what I had in mind when first starting to make these!

[@lvl1bird]

"now there will be a non-zero number of games you can win without combo-ing"

[@TheOvermaster]

Sometimes I put on pressure with a large Amalia but it's very rare I actually complete a win without the combo tbh.

[@user-sm3ts2hv7y]

Great video, thx

[@optimustomtv]

Ty!

[@paperplaneso27]

Thanks for putting out such high quality pioneer content consistently! These videos are awesome!

[@optimustomtv]

Thank you for that! I hope the editing is fine, I'm still figuring it out haha

[@noivern1380]

I’ve been looking forward to this one. Thanks for the video!

[@optimustomtv]

My pleasure! Glad you stick around for it 😁

[@Glyceroll]

can you whisper amalia's full name into my ear while feeding me hot cheetos and rubbing my tummy with olive oil

[@optimustomtv]

Jinkies

[@Franciscomeirajr]

Awesome video, thanks for sharing

[@optimustomtv]

Thanks for watching!

[@RadicalSpikee]

Another great video!

[@optimustomtv]

Thanks again!

[@jayrod115]

These deck techs are AMAZING and a staple for anyone wanting to get into pioneer. Thank you for the content! I'm a modern yawg player so i've been trying my hand at amalia due to the similar style. And you're telling me I only need to chord for 2 instead of 4?? What a dream come true.

[@optimustomtv]

Glad you like them! Ahaha yeah, chord for half the cost of a Yawg to go off!

[@Y00bi]

Actually, I believe the infinite loop *has* to advance the boardstate to it's expected endstate in order to draw. I could be wrong here, but this means if you can force them to go infinite and then end the combo you win.

[@optimustomtv]

I did misspeak a little bit - while they do eventually have to mill a card, an Amalia player never has to end their turn as exploring an empty deck just counts as adding counters (which advanced the board state) and a draw is called. If you have an exiling effect or kill spell in addition to a way to make wildgrowth indestructible or Amalia slip 20 power, you can in theory force them to lose by stopping their loop at 0 cards. Assuming they can't win that turn, or they do the loop end of your turn. It would require a deck like Boros to have 3 mana to do something like Monstrous Rage Amalia and then Get Lost her, and for the Amalia deck to have no cards like Selfless Savior to save the Amalia. I'm not sure of another deck that could utilize both parts of this that is also a popular meta deck off the top of my head!

[@kibspoker]

SUBSCRIBED! Dear Optimus, thanks for the massive effort on guiding us with these deck techs, in a matter of days I got familiar quick with Pioneer Meta Decks. Really appreciate it, on a side note - I sincerely hope you can do an Izzet Ensoul if possible at all. This deck has been my passion that led me to play Pioneer recently (was doing Standard only before) - honestly im really bad at sideboarded games. Thank you and excited to see future vids!

[@optimustomtv]

Thank you for the shout out and sub!! I've got a few more on my plate - originally I had UW Control, Mono Red, and Izzet Ensoul - but I might look to push Mono Red and replace it with the rise of Mono Green in the meta so stay tuned!

[@kibspoker]

@@optimustomtv Thank you so much. Excited for the upcoming videos!!! 🥰

[@halcyonn3187]

Awesome video

[@optimustomtv]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@mosesdaugird6874]

Your pioneer deck techs are amazing especially for someone new to the pioneer format and eager to learn!!!! Thank you for the amazing quality.

[@optimustomtv]

Thank you for the kind words! Hopefully they help you get into the format and find a deck you enjoy!

[@GammeligesKaeseBrot]

Do you have a tip to counter it as a waste not player? Put in the end and legions end?

[@optimustomtv]

Put in your removal spells from your sideboard (Cut Down and/or Path of Peril) and either have Knight of Dusk's Shadow or Torpor Orb to shut off their Combo loop. Kalitas, Grafdigger's Cage, Unlicensed Hearse, and Ashiok are all good SB cards to have as well. Sometimes we just lose to Collected Company off the top of their library. But we have enough removal to hopefully stop them from Comboing and enough discard to make top decking pretty much their only option. That being said, it's more Amalia favored than Waste Not favored.

[@rafinery576]

Cenote is an English word as well, no need to pronounce it "see naughty". =D

[@optimustomtv]

I don't think I say naughty? I double checked myself with Wikipedia for "Se-No-Tay" since I didn't want to American it up with "SeeNote" like I've heard people say 😅 But it fits the Explore them since Cenote is a hole with water!

[@xaropevic7918]

I will say as an uw player, I quite enjoy playing against amalia combo, especially without a timer is so much funnier and sillier because they can combo thrice and you just don't care. Tef loop became a thing that happens again now