menu

The Slowest Way Possible to Win a Game of Magic

Are you a Quiet Speculation member?

If not, now is a perfect time to join up! Our powerful tools, breaking-news analysis, and exclusive Discord channel will make sure you stay up to date and ahead of the curve.

I know this is something we may grumble to ourselves when we get paired against the Control deck, but it's not something that we usually actually encounter.

Until now.

Reddit comes through again, and in an odd subgame of finding the slowest possible way to win the game, they have determined a clear winner. In fact, there's so much math involved in determining this, I won't even try to understand that. I'll just trust them.

And they tell me it takes 21024 +9234 turns to win the game.

I don't even know what that means, but here's the "combo." The rules of the game basically involve a deck that cannot win the game except through its own power, in the slowest way possible, while playing against a brick wall.

The seven cards in the opening hand, that one will cast to win the game, are:

Lotus Bloom

Dwell on the Past

Doomsday (we all knew it would probably involve this)

Ivory Tower

Emerald Medallion

Growth Spasm

Magus of the Tabernacle

The secret to winning the slowest game possible.
The secret to winning the slowest game possible.

In case you were curious how to win this slowly, here's the full breakdown. Maths. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Avatar photo

Corbin Hosler

Corbin Hosler is a journalist living in Norman, Oklahoma (also known as the hotbed of Magic). He started playing in Shadowmoor and chased the Pro Tour dream for a few years, culminating in a Star City Games Legacy Open finals appearance in 2011 before deciding to turn to trading and speculation full-time. He writes weekly at QuietSpeculation.com and biweekly for LegitMTG. He also cohosts Brainstorm Brewery, the only financial podcast on the net. He can best be reached @Chosler88 on Twitter.

View More By Corbin Hosler

Posted in Casual, Feature, FreeTagged , , , , , , , , ,

Have you joined the Quiet Speculation Discord?

If you haven't, you're leaving value on the table! Join our community of experts, enthusiasts, entertainers, and educators and enjoy exclusive podcasts, questions asked and answered, trades, sales, and everything else Discord has to offer.

Want to create content with Quiet Speculation?

All you need to succeed is a passion for Magic: The Gathering, and the ability to write coherently. Share your knowledge of MTG and how you leverage it to win games, get value from your cards – or even turn a profit.

10 thoughts on “The Slowest Way Possible to Win a Game of Magic

  1. At the university we once did a comparable challenge where you had to build 2 decks of I think 10 cards each (may have been 10 cards total) and figure out how much life could be gained when they faced off. No combination of cards could form an infinite combo and you could die in all the usual ways so eventually decking became an issue. The winning setup gained more life than there are atoms in the universe. Unfortunately I had misunderstood that both decks together couldn’t go infinite, thinking each deck separately couldn’t go infinite and no infinite combo’s could happen during the game, but, it was quite a lot of fun to think about anyway. I think the winning deck resolved around Fasting in some way.

  2. In addition, when you are relaxed, the acupuncturist will be better able to
    work on you. Electronic cigarette’s seem to be the wave of the future
    concerning new ways of delivering the satisfying dose of nicotine in a safe and less harmful
    manner. Every Amerismoke cartridge is the same
    as 30 cigarettes, each cartridge of Amerismoke can be
    purchased in 7 seven different flavors you can choose such
    as Strawberry, Coffee, Tobacco, Vanilla, Menthol, Chocolate and
    Apple.

Leave a Reply to pi Cancel reply

Want Prices?

Browse thousands of prices with the first and most comprehensive MTG Finance tool around.


Trader Tools lists both buylist and retail prices for every MTG card, going back a decade.

Quiet Speculation