Basking Broodscale in Pauper: A New Combo from MH3?

Basking Broodscale is a 2/2 creature that costs 2, and, even though its converted mana cost includes green mana, it is a colorless creature. It also has "Adapt" 1, which puts a +1/+1 counter on it if it doesn't have one. Its second ability creates a 0/1 Eldrazi token any time one or more +1/+1 counters is put on Broodscale itself. You can also sacrifice this token to create .

This small Eldrazi Lizard enables new combos in this format because of its synergy with counters. So, the community already started thinking of ways to abuse its ability. One of these ways is by using Sadistic Glee, an enchantment that costs and puts a +1/+1 counter on the creature you enchant with it whenever a creature is put into any graveyard from play.

Eldrazi tokens go to the graveyard before they cease to exist for good, which creates an interesting synergy between Broodscale and this enchantment. If you use them together, you'll create infinite mana. However, to do this, you need to have Broodscale in play enchanted with Sadistic Glee, then activate its Adapt 1 ability to trigger its second ability.

Then, you'll be able to sacrifice the token you created to create , and trigger the enchantment's ability again. You'll put another counter on Broodscale and create a new token. This is the loop that will give you infinite colorless mana.

You can use this mana in any way you want, but one card that goes well with this combo and adds competitiveness to the loop above is Thoughtpicker Witch.

This Witch will be this deck's main win condition. Considering you can create infinite mana, you can also use it to exile your opponent's entire deck if you sacrifice your infinite tokens and pay for this witch's ability with the infinite mana you created.

Now that we have our main combo pieces, how can we build this combo in Pauper? Well, this format has a few support cards that will help us with an initial version of this deck - which I shall call Sadistic Broodscale.

Besides Broodscale and the Witch, there are a few creatures that go really well with this list and will make up our strategy. Snarling Gorehound and Rubblebelt Maverick work really well together; they dig through your deck and create value. You can also use Rubblebelt to enable your combo if you don't have enough mana to use Adapt.

Slitherhead also enables your combo, and you can use it from your graveyard through Surveil. Mesmeric Fiend attacks your opponent's resources. Troll of Khazad-dûm is a threat you can cast late game or use as a fetch land.

Besides creatures, this deck will need spells so you can protect your game plan, like Snakeskin Veil, and cards that create card advantage or find your combo pieces, like Deadly Dispute and Commune with the Gods. You'll also need cards that bring recursion to this strategy, like Unearth and Urborg Repossession.

Commune with the Gods is incredibly efficient in this build because, with it, you can look for both Sadistic Glee and another creature that enables your combo. And, if one of these pieces ends up in your graveyard, you can use one of your recursion cards.

Deadly Dispute was essential in this build, at least at first, because it creates card advantage at instant speed and fixes your curve with Treasure tokens.

Another card I felt had to be in this list was Makeshift Munitions, which can be an alternative win condition - you'll use infinite mana and tokens to finish the game in the same way as Goblin combo does.

Our sideboard will complement this strategy by bringing more pieces to protect your combo, like Duress and Red Elemental Blast, removals to deal with your opponent's threats, and ways to deal with problematic cards, like Relic of Progenitus. You'll also have proper graveyard hate.

I also had a few other ideas when I was brainstorming combos for this card. One of them was Tortured Existence.

TortEx seems like a perfect place for a Broodscale combo, considering it tutors enchantments and uses a lot of recursion to get back the cards that end up in your graveyard.

Another card that many players brought up was Step Through. This would be a blue build, to access cantrips. This card gets you Thoughtpicker Witch, which may make the combo easier, but, at first, it doesn't seem as consistent as Commune with the Gods.

As this strategy revolves around creatures, one of its main cons is the powerful removal kit and graveyard hate some decks use right now. However, I believe the right build will help you play around this. Maybe the biggest issue this combo will have to surpass to become more than just a fun deck is consistency.

A three-piece combo with an enchantment that needs to be on the board to start seems too complex for me, but the tools I presented for our initial build seem promising. Now, all we need is to test it out and find out what is the best build for this strategy.

Sadistic Broodscale combo is one of the most expected surprises from MH3 for Pauper, and even I am a bit anxious to test this deck.

Tell us down below in our comment section what do you expect from this new combo, and how you'd upgrade it.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!