Introduction
Imagine summoning your entire deck onto the battlefield. That’s the promise, the alluring possibility, of the Food Chain combo. In the vast ecosystem of Magic: The Gathering, combos reign supreme, offering pathways to victory that bypass the conventional attrition game. These synergistic card interactions can generate overwhelming advantages, from infinite mana to infinite creatures, often leading to a swift and decisive win. This article delves into the captivating world of the Food Chain combo, a powerful and versatile engine that can transform seemingly innocuous creatures into a tide of overwhelming power. We will explore its core components, dissect its popular variations, analyze its strengths and vulnerabilities, and ultimately assess its standing within the diverse landscape of MTG formats. Prepare to feast on the knowledge, and perhaps, on your opponents.
The Basics: Understanding Food Chain
Before we dive into the intricate depths of the combo, let’s lay the groundwork with a fundamental understanding of the card itself. Food Chain is an enchantment, a persistent spell that stays on the battlefield and exerts its influence turn after turn. The card text reads, “Exile a non-Human creature you control: Add mana of any one color equal to that creature’s converted mana cost to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast creature spells.”
Let’s break that down. In simple terms, Food Chain allows you to sacrifice creatures – but only non-Human creatures – that you control to generate mana. The amount of mana you receive is equal to the converted mana cost of the sacrificed creature. So, exiling a creature that costs two mana will generate two mana. The generated mana can be any color you choose. However, a crucial restriction exists: this mana can only be used to cast creature spells.
To illustrate, imagine you control a Birds of Paradise, a common and useful creature costing a single green mana. Exiling it with Food Chain adds one mana of any color to your mana pool. That mana can then be used to cast another creature. This is the basic mechanic of Food Chain, but the true potential lies in its synergistic applications to create an infinite mana engine. The entire reason this card sees play is because it is the integral piece to the Food Chain combo
The ultimate goal with Food Chain is to generate an unbounded, limitless, never-ending amount of mana, specifically mana that can be used to cast creature spells. This vast reservoir of mana then fuels a game-winning play, typically involving summoning a massive creature or executing a series of creature-based actions that overwhelm your opponent.
The Key Ingredients: Food Chain Combo Pieces
The heart of the Food Chain combo lies in a specific interaction that generates infinite mana. The primary engine relies on creatures with the ability to return from exile. The two most prominent creatures for this purpose are Eternal Scourge and Misthollow Griffin. Both of these creatures have the unusual ability to be cast from exile. This ability is the key to creating a loop that generates infinite mana.
Let’s meticulously dissect how this loop operates. First, you cast either Eternal Scourge or Misthollow Griffin, paying for its cost with the mana generated by Food Chain or other mana sources. Second, you activate Food Chain‘s ability, exiling the newly cast creature (Eternal Scourge or Misthollow Griffin) you control. Third, Food Chain adds mana equal to the exiled creature’s converted mana cost (three mana for Eternal Scourge, four mana for Misthollow Griffin). Fourth, because Eternal Scourge or Misthollow Griffin can be cast from exile, you use the mana generated to cast it again. Fifth, you repeat this process, exiling and recasting the creature, each time adding to your mana pool. With each iteration of this loop, your mana pool grows, eventually reaching a point where you possess an unlimited amount of mana that can only be used to cast creature spells.
Mana Sinks
However, infinite mana is useless unless you have a way to spend it. This is where the concept of a “mana sink” comes into play. A mana sink is a card that can repeatedly utilize mana to generate a desired effect.
Creature-based mana sinks are the most common and effective win conditions for Food Chain decks. Endbringer is a potent option. It is a colorless creature that allows you to draw cards, destroy other creatures, or simply deal damage to your opponents. With infinite mana, you can repeatedly activate these abilities, either emptying your deck or decimating your opponents’ board. Walking Ballista is another favorite due to its simple and direct damage output. With infinite mana, you can put an infinite number of +1/+1 counters on it, and then remove them all to deal infinite damage to your opponent. There are other options for using your infinite mana, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, depending on the specific strategy of your deck.
There are also cards that search your deck for a creature to put onto the battlefield. Finale of Devastation is a powerful card that, for a lot of mana, will search your deck for any creature and put it onto the battlefield. You can do this multiple times to empty your entire deck. Green Sun’s Zenith is another favorite, although it only searches for green creatures.
Variations and Synergies
Food Chain is particularly prevalent in the Commander format, where the larger deck sizes and varied play styles create an environment conducive to combo strategies.
Commander Synergies
Certain Commanders exhibit exceptional synergy with Food Chain. Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, for example, excels because it generates a multitude of Kobold tokens that can be sacrificed to Food Chain for mana. This mana can then be used to pay for Prossh’s commander tax, allowing you to cast Prossh multiple times, creating an ever-increasing swarm of tokens. Najeela, the Blade-Blossom is another popular choice. Infinite mana allows Najeela to activate her ability repeatedly, generating infinite combat phases and effectively winning the game. Other notable Commander options include commanders like The First Sliver, who reduces the cost of the loop creatures.
Deckbuilding Considerations in Commander
Building a Food Chain deck in Commander requires careful consideration of several factors. Tutors, cards that allow you to search your library for specific cards, are essential for assembling the combo pieces reliably. Protection spells, such as counterspells or cards that grant hexproof or shroud, are necessary to safeguard your combo from disruption. Backup plans are also crucial, providing alternative win conditions in case the Food Chain combo is disrupted or rendered ineffective.
Other Formats
While Food Chain sees limited play in formats like Legacy, it can be a viable option in certain niche strategies. Compared to other combo decks in Legacy, Food Chain can be a bit slower and more vulnerable, but its explosive potential and resilience to certain types of removal make it a worthwhile consideration. However, its lack of presence in Modern indicates its relative weakness in the face of faster and more efficient combo decks.
Budget Options
For players on a budget, building a Food Chain deck can be challenging, but not impossible. Less expensive alternatives or variations can be employed. Utilizing different creatures in the loop or opting for more budget-friendly mana sinks can reduce the overall cost of the deck.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The Food Chain combo offers several compelling strengths. The most obvious is the ability to generate infinite mana, which unlocks a multitude of possibilities. The loop involving Eternal Scourge or Misthollow Griffin is also relatively resilient, as simple removal spells are ineffective against creatures that can be cast from exile. The combo’s versatility allows it to be incorporated into a variety of deck strategies, and its explosive potential enables it to win games quickly once assembled.
Weaknesses Explained
However, Food Chain is not without its weaknesses. It is highly vulnerable to graveyard hate, which can disrupt the loop and prevent the creatures from being cast from exile. Exile effects, which permanently remove the creatures from the game, are also a significant threat. The combo is also dependent on finding specific cards, making it vulnerable to disruption and requiring the use of tutors. Stax pieces, like Rule of Law, also shut down the entire combo, because it relies on casting multiple spells in a single turn. Lastly, the card is mana intensive, because it still requires mana to cast the loop creatures.
Tips and Tricks for Playing Food Chain
Successfully piloting a Food Chain deck requires a nuanced understanding of the combo and its interactions. Mulligan decisions are crucial. You must look for an opening hand that contains at least one of the Food Chain pieces and mana to cast them. The order in which you play your cards is also important. Sequencing should be done carefully in order to maximize your advantage and minimize your vulnerability to disruption. Protecting your combo with counterspells or cards that grant shroud or hexproof is essential. You need to be able to deal with disruption by anticipating potential threats and developing strategies to play around common hate cards. Having a firm understanding of the stack is also critical, particularly when resolving the loop and responding to your opponents’ actions.
Decklists (Examples)
Here’s a sample Commander decklist featuring Prossh, Skyraider of Kher as the commander:
Commander: Prossh, Skyraider of Kher
Key Cards: Food Chain, Eternal Scourge, Sylvan Library, Demonic Tutor, Mana Crypt, Jeweled Lotus, Dockside Extortionist, Finale of Devastation.
This deck utilizes Prossh’s ability to generate tokens, which can then be sacrificed to Food Chain for mana. Tutors are used to find the combo pieces, and protection spells are included to safeguard the combo.
For a more budget-friendly list, you can replace expensive cards with more accessible options. For example, you can replace Demonic Tutor with Diabolic Tutor and Mana Crypt with cheaper mana rocks.
Conclusion
The Food Chain combo is a powerful and versatile engine that can transform seemingly innocuous creatures into an overwhelming tide of mana and ultimately, victory. Its ability to generate infinite mana opens up a vast array of possibilities, making it a force to be reckoned with in various MTG formats. So, I encourage you to embrace the power of the Food Chain combo, to experiment with different variations, and to discover the satisfaction of devouring your opponents with an endless swarm of creatures. Now go forth and build a Food Chain deck, and may your opponents tremble before the infinite possibilities it unlocks!
