The One Ring + Keeper of the Nine Gales

2-card combo · U

Verdict

No — this 2-card loop delivers a soft lock rather than a win, and the four-mana recast tax every turn makes it a resource drain, not an engine.

Cards required

Cheapest stack total

$9.13

Color identity

Popularity

288 decks

Format

Commander

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Keeper of the Nine Gales taps itself and two other Birds to bounce The One Ring back to hand, then The One Ring re-enters for 4 and refreshes the protection-from-everything shield each turn. The lock is real — damage, targeted removal, and combat are all blanked — but it requires a Bird-tribal shell to supply the two additional tappers, and it eats four mana per cycle without advancing a board state or generating card advantage on its own.

How it works

Prerequisites

Keeper of the Nine Gales does not have summoning sickness. You control at least two other untapped Birds.

Steps

Activate Keeper of the Nine Gales by tapping it and two other untapped Birds you control, returning The One Ring from the battlefield to your hand.
Cast The One Ring by paying .
The One Ring triggers, giving you protection from everything until your next turn.
Repeat each turn.

Result

Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you; You have protection from everything; Lock

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

Replace one of the filler Birds with Derevi, Empyrial Tactician if the shell supports it, since Derevi untaps permanents on creature attacks and eases the mana cost of looping. The lock needs a closer — Thassa's Oracle on an empty library or Approach of the Second Sun takes the win that protection alone can't deliver.

The One Ring + Keeper of the Nine Gales

How it works

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

Other combos sharing these cards