Pre-Modern is exploding in popularity — but not everyone wants to sleeve up Tide, Stiflenought, or Devourer combo.
In this episode of Eternal Durdles, Phil and Zach dig into underplayed and underrepresented Pre-Modern combo decks that still have real game — or at least real nostalgia. We break down how these decks work, why they fell out of favor, and whether any of them still have the legs to compete in today’s Pre-Modern metagame.
We start with Cadaverous Bloom / Squandered Resources (Prosperous Bloom) — one of Magic’s earliest true combo decks — and walk through turn-by-turn lines, Natural Balance interactions, Meditate chains, and why the deck is both terrifying and deeply flawed in a world full of blue decks and Naturalize effects.
From there, we move into Iggy Pop (Ill-Gotten Gains Storm), discussing:
Intuition piles
Lion’s Eye Diamond sequencing
Threshold mana loops
Why this version cuts discard
How fast the deck can realistically kill
When Storm is better off racing instead of interacting
Finally, we break down the most viable of the bunch: Pre-Modern Doomsday.
We cover:
Future Sight + Doomsday piles
LED / Lotus Petal requirements
Ebony Charm loops
Why Mog Fanatic is secretly terrifying
Sideboard flexibility with singletons
The Hunting Pack + Concordant Crossroads pivot plan
Why this deck actually 5–0’d a league
This episode is part strategy, part history lesson, and part reality check. Some of these decks are pure nostalgia. Some are secretly competitive. All of them are fascinating.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be taking these decks through Pre-Modern leagues to see what still holds up — and what belongs in the museum.
👇 Let us know which deck you want to see run first.