MTG Foundations’ most busted infinite combo was no accident

Magic: The Gathering Foundations has a contender for the strongest infinite combo of the set and according to one of the game’s Senior Designers, it is meant to be there.

We’re in the midst of one of the best times to be a Magic: The Gathering fan, and a newcomer to the hobby. MTG Foundations is in the early stages of its launch and this latest set is a back-to-basics set that caters to longtime Planeswalkers as well as those taking their first tentative steps into the landmark TCG.

A big reason Foundations is so good at striking this balance is due to its pared-back mechanics but there’s another factor here. Foundations features reprints of classic cards from across the TCG’s 30-year lifespan and some brand new entries to synergize with them.

This approach has birthed the set’s most feared infinite combo facilitated by Bloodthirsty Conquerer and Marauding Blight-Priest. This vampiric one-two-punch is standard legal and is about to become the bane of MTG first-timers and veterans alike.

Wizards of the Coast

For some context, Marauding Blight-Priest was first introduced in MTG’s Zendikar Rising set back in 2020 and it received a reprint in Foundations. Bloodthirsty Conquerer is a brand-new card from the recently released set.

The infinite combo between these two cards comes about thanks to their synergistic cantrips. Bloodthirsty conqueror’s innate ability states: “Whenever an opponent loses life, you gain that much life”. Marauding Blight-Priest’s ability is a sort of inversion of this and reads: “Whenever you gain life, each opponent loses 1 life”.

So, in order to instantly win a match, all you need to do is get both cards on the board and find a means of removing any amount of life from your opponent. The abilities of the two cards will then repeatedly trigger in a loop until your opponent is out of life and you have an abundance of it.
The wording Marauding Blight-Priest which states that “each opponent loses 1 life” also means this combo can be used in multiplayer formats like Commander. The sheer power of this infinite combo had some players questioning if the inclusion of these two cards in the same set was some sort of accident.

MTG Senior Designer Carmen Klomparens chimed in on X to reveal that this infinite combo was 100% intentional. They also took the time to explain why it was included.

“When working on Foundations, the team really wanted to make sure we were making the best “Core Set” ever,” Klomparens explained in the thread. “The goal of Foundations was something to the effect of ‘Close the gap between ‘someone who’s a new Magic player’ and ‘a Magic player’.”

For this reason, Klomparens revealed that the team wanted to make sure it wasn’t “infantilizing new players”. Overpowered combos are part and parcel of the MTG experience and the ability to discover them on your own, or after falling victim to them, is something the design team at Wizards of the Coast wanted to give new players with Foundations.

“Maybe this proves out to be too strong, but it felt like the kind of shape that was a reasonable bet to take at giving players a taste of cool stuff that can happen in Magic,” Klomparens continued. “I’m not saying that a player on their 5th game ever isn’t gonna call bulls**t on an infinite combo, but the odds that someone on their 50th game goes ‘Wow! You can do that? Sick!’ has this in the territory where we feel the juice is worth the squeeze.”

Whether you’re just starting out your journey with MTG Foundations, or it’s the next in a long list of sets that you’re collecting, you’ll want to get your hands on Bloodthirsty Conquerer and Marauding Blight-Priest. Fortunately, Marauding Blight-Priest can be found in the MTG Foundations Starter Collection. For Bloodthirsty Conquerer, you’ll have to try your luck with boosters.