The Locust God + Skullclamp + Pitiless Plunderer

3-card combo · UBR

Verdict

Yes — this 3-card loop converts a single 1-toughness creature into infinite Insects, infinite card draw, and a lethal board in one turn.

Cards required: 3
Cheapest stack total: $22.63
Color identity: UBR
Popularity: 140 decks
Format: Commander

Buy required cards on TCGplayer

Skullclamp kills any 1-toughness body and draws two cards; The Locust God converts each draw into a 1/1 Insect with flying and haste, and Pitiless Plunderer converts each death into a Treasure that pays the 1 equip cost to clamp the next Insect. The loop is self-sustaining from the moment the engine is live — every iteration produces two fresh 1-toughness targets and exactly the mana needed to sacrifice them.

Recipe

How it works

Prerequisites

You control a creature whose toughness is equal to one.

Steps

Activate Skullclamp's equip ability by paying , attaching it to a creature whose toughness is equal to one.
The creature dies as a state-based action due to having zero toughness.
Skullclamp and Pitiless Plunderer trigger.
Resolve the Skullclamp trigger, causing you to draw two cards.
The Locust God triggers twice, creating two 1/1 Insect creature tokens with flying and haste.
Resolve the Pitiless Plunderer trigger, creating a Treasure token.
Activate the Treasure by tapping and sacrificing it, adding .
Repeat.

Result

Infinite card draw; Infinite draw triggers; Near-infinite creature tokens with haste; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite LTB

Variations

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

Ashnod's Altar replaces Pitiless Plunderer as the mana source if Treasure generation is redundant or removal is a concern; it sacrifices Insects directly for colorless rather than waiting on a trigger. Draw-doubling effects like Teferi's Ageless Insight are not required but compound the Insect output if already in the shell. The token swarm kills on the same turn without a separate closer — haste does the work.