The easiest way to win in Magic the Gathering is to get your opponent's life down to zero. It sounds simple in concept, but in practice, you'll be facing down blocking creatures and lifegain getting in the way of your deadly plans. So why not just do it all in a single turn and be done with it through an infinite damage combo?The infinite damage combos listed here can be defined as ways to make an opponent lose all their life without needing to go to combat. This includes both damage-dealing effects and life-loss effects, which have the same result but are technically slightly different in terms of the rules. Anything that can kill someone outside of combat is fair game.We're also going to skip some combos that are too functionally similar to each other in favour of ones that can fit in a wider variety of Commander decks, even if they're not as popular. We're also not going to include the popular Niv-Mizzet and Curiosity combos as they rely on a finite resource, drawing cards from your deck, to drive the damage. It tends to be a game-winner, and is worth considering in Izzet decks, but runs the risk of you decking yourself out before winning.
5 Gravecrawler, Phyrexian Altar, and Diregraf Captain
This is a remarkably cheap combo, with the highest mana value of any card only being three.
First, have Gravecrawler, Phyrexian Altar and Diregraf Captain out on the battlefield. Then, sacrifice the Gravecrawler to the Phyrexian Altar, producing one black mana. This triggers Diregraf Captain to force an opponent to lose one life whenever a Zombie dies.
Using the one black mana you made with Phyrexian Altar, re-cast Gravecrawler from your graveyard. As soon as it's resolved, immediately sacrifice it to the Phyrexian Altar again, triggering Diregraf Captain again. Repeat this process as many times as you want, or until all your opponents are dead.
This combo is incredible alongside Syr Konrad the Grim, as then your opponents will be losing life whenever Gravecrawler dies to the Phyrexian Altar, and when it leaves the graveyard on being recast. Unfortunately, the combo requires you to be in a black and blue colour identity, limiting the decks it can be used in.
4 Pashalik Mons, Skirk Prospector, and Mana Echoes
For a colour all about direct damage, infinite damage combos in red are surprisingly uncommon. This one uses the goblin commander Pashalik Mons and Skirk Prospector to turn your dead goblins into infinite damage.
First, have Skirk Prospector, Pashalik Mons, Mana Echoes and an extra goblin of any kind on the battlefield. Next, pay three generic and one red mana to activate Pashalik Mons'a bility and make two 1/1 red goblin tokens. This triggers Mana Echoes, making two lots of four generic mana (as you have Pashalik Mons, Skirk Prospector, another goblin, and then both goblin tokens entering at the same time).
Sacrifice one of those goblins to Skirk Prospector, creating one red mana and triggering Pashalik Mons' ability to deal one damage to any target. You now have enough mana to repeat the process, making another two goblins with Pashalik Mons' ability, making mana with Mana Echoes, sacrificing one to Skirk Prospector, activating Pashalik Mons, and so on and so forth until your opponents are all dead.
The best thing about this combo is it's also infinite colourless mana and infinite goblin tokens. It also uses a creature who could feasibly be your Commander, reducing how many cards you have to draw to pull it off.
3 Dramatic Reversal, Isochron Scepter, and Aetherflux Reservoir
Dubbed "Isorev", any combo involving Dramatic Reversal and Isochron Scepter is ridiculously powerful. This one uses Aetherflux Reservoire's casting trigger to net you infinite life, which you can then blast at your opponents for 50 damage an infinite number of times.
First, cast Aetherflux Reservoir. Then, cast Isochron Scepter (gaining two life through Aetherflux Reservoir), and imprint it with Dramatic Reversal. Then pay two generic mana and tap it to cast a copy of Dramatic Reversal (gaining three life), untapping all your permanents, not including lands, and the Isochron Scepter.
As long as you have enough non-land mana sources to produce two mana each loop, like artifact 'mana rocks' such as Sol Ring or mana dork creatures, you're golden. Each time you use Isochron Scepter to cast Dramatic Reversal, you'll gain one more life than you did the last time. After 20 casts of Dramatic Reversal, you'll have gained 252 life, which in most games will be enough to kill the entire table through Aetherflux Reservoir. For an extra flex, do the Isorev loop a few quadrillion times to end the game with more life than you know what to do with.
The fantastic thing about this combo is that it's an instant-speed skill. If anyone tries to respond to you mid-loop, you can just keep going over the top of them.
2 Heliod, the Sun-Crowned and Walking Ballista
One of the most popular win conditions in a mono-white Commander deck is the combo of Heliod, Sun-Crowned and Walking Ballista.
First, Walking Ballista needs to have at least two +1/+1 counters on it (by paying four generic to cast it, ideally), and Heliod, the Sun-Crowned needs to be on the battlefield.
Pay one generic and one white to use Heliod, Sun-Crowned's ability and give Walking Ballista lifelink until the end of the turn. Then, use Walking Ballista's ability to remove a +1/+1 counter to deal one damage to any target (an opponent).
Because it has lifelink, Walking Ballista will then give you one life, which triggers Heliod, Sun-Crownd's other ability, allowing you to put a +1/+1 counter on Walking Ballista. Heliod effectively replenishes Walking Ballista's ammunition each time it fires, letting you wipe out the board and gain a ridiculous amount of life in the process.
1 Exquisite Blood, and Vito, Thorn of Dusk Rose (or Sanguine Bond)
By far the easiest infinite life-loss combo out there, this uses just two cards: Exquisite Blood and Vito, Thorn of Dusk Rose.
All you have to do is have Exquisite Blood and Vito out on the battlefield. Then, either gain at least one point of life or deal one point of damage to an opponent.
When you gain the life, Vito will trigger, causing your opponent to lose life equal to it. When they lose life, Exquisite Blood will trigger and cause you to gain life equal to the amount they lost. This then re-triggers Vito, and the loop goes on indefinitely. Once one opponent is dead, shift the Vito trigger to another opponent to keep it going.
If you don't want to run Vito, or want some redundancy for if he gets removed somehow, there is also Sanguine Bond. It's an enchantment that does the same thing.
This is such a good combo for a few reasons. First, it's on auto-pilot. Once you've set it off, it loops infinitely without any input or interaction from you. Secondly, it's mono-colour and so can more easily slot into a wide variety of decks. Most importantly, it's a two-card combo where one of them can be your Commander, who is always castable from the Command Zone. A Vito, Thorn of Dusk Rose deck would only have to draw Exquisite Blood to get a win, and that's incredibly easy to pull off in black, a colour full of cards like Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor.
If you want a simple, easy infinite life loss combo in Commander, Exquisite Blood and Vito is the one for you.