How to Beat MTG’s New Broken Discover Combo!

The Lost Caverns of Ixalan has been available on Magic Online for roughly a week, and it appears that a handful of new cards have completely warped the Pioneer metagame. Before release, there was a ton of talk about a handful of unique additions to the format. Cavern of Souls Cavern of Souls As this land enters, choose a creature type.
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to cast a creature spell of the chosen type, and that spell can't be countered. seemed like a major upgrade for decks like mono-white Humans, while Get Lost Get Lost Destroy target creature, enchantment, or planeswalker. Its controller creates two Map tokens. (They're artifacts with "{1}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: Target creature you control explores. Activate only as a sorcery.") would help Azorius control decks answer problematic permanents that slip through counter magic.

Beyond some upgrades to well-established archetypes, players were also excited to test the new Amalia Benavides Aguirre Amalia Benavides Aguirre Ward—Pay 3 life.
Whenever you gain life, Amalia Benavides Aguirre explores. Then destroy all other creatures if its power is exactly 20. (To have this creature explore, reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.) Explore combo deck. This deck was designed to use Amalia alongside Wildgrowth Walker Wildgrowth Walker Whenever a creature you control explores, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature and you gain 3 life. and any way to gain life or Explore, causing a chain reaction eventually resulting in Amalia getting to 20 power. While this combo has certainly popped up, it’s no longer the combo deck players are most interested in.

As it turns out, an archetype that was low on our radar has completely taken over Pioneer and Historic on MTG Arena. This archetype relies on new cards with the powerful “Discover” mechanic. Up to this point, there seems to be two different versions of Discover combo. One variant uses Quintorius Kand Quintorius Kand Whenever you cast a spell from exile, Quintorius Kand deals 2 damage to each opponent and you gain 2 life.
+1: Create a 3/2 red and white Spirit creature token.
−3: Discover 4.
−6: Exile any number of target cards from your graveyard. Add {R} for each card exiled this way. You may play those cards this turn. and Spark Double Spark Double You may have this creature enter as a copy of a creature or planeswalker you control, except it enters with an additional +1/+1 counter on it if it's a creature, it enters with an additional loyalty counter on it if it's a planeswalker, and it isn't legendary. as win conditions, while the other uses Geological Appraiser Geological Appraiser When this creature enters, if you cast it, discover 3. (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value 3 or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.) and Eldritch Evolution Eldritch Evolution As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Search your library for a creature card with mana value X or less, where X is 2 plus the sacrificed creature's mana value. Put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle. Exile Eldritch Evolution. .

Both versions are extremely strong. In fact, the finals of the Magic Online Pioneer Showcase Challenge with over 400 players featured both decks going head-to-head. It’s clear that this strategy is extremely powerful. The question is, though, is Discover a “broken” mechanic or are there reasonable ways to fight against it? To answer this question, we first need to look at what makes Discover such an absurd mechanic in the first place.

Abusing Discover

Whether you are playing the Discover combo version with Quintorius or Geological Appraiser, your goals are quite similar. Once you are able to resolve one of your Discover win conditions, if the opponent cannot interact with you, winning the game is typically trivial. With Quintoirus, you simply use the Planeswalker’s -3 ability to find Clone Clone You may have this creature enter as a copy of any creature on the battlefield. effects to copy Quintorius, while draining your opponent’s life total in the process thanks to Quintorius’s static ability.

With Geological Appraiser, you will either hit Glasspool Mimic Glasspool Mimic You may have this creature enter as a copy of a creature you control, except it's a Shapeshifter Rogue in addition to its other types. or Eldritch Evolution Eldritch Evolution As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Search your library for a creature card with mana value X or less, where X is 2 plus the sacrificed creature's mana value. Put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle. Exile Eldritch Evolution. off of the trigger. Once Evolution is cast, you find Trumpeting Carnosaur Trumpeting Carnosaur Trample
When this creature enters, discover 5.
{2}{R}, Discard this card: It deals 3 damage to target creature or planeswalker. , keep the Discover train rolling until you have a big board, then finally grab Doomskar Titan Doomskar Titan When this creature enters, creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain haste until end of turn.
Foretell {4}{R} (During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.) with the last copy of Evolution and attack for the win. Both variants of the archetype are strong, and each have different things going for them.

For the Geological Appraiser deck, executing the combo can be done as early as turn three. This is a turn faster than Quintorius combo. The Geological Appraiser version, therefore, relies a bit more on speed, using cards like Magma Opus Magma Opus Magma Opus deals 4 damage divided as you choose among any number of targets. Tap two target permanents. Create a 4/4 blue and red Elemental creature token. Draw two cards.
{U/R}{U/R}, Discard this card: Create a Treasure token. to make Treasures to accelerate your gameplan. In the case of the Quintorius deck, the deck utilizes more interactive cards like Leyline Binding Leyline Binding Flash
Domain — This spell costs {1} less to cast for each basic land type among lands you control.
When this enchantment enters, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls until this enchantment leaves the battlefield. and Virtue of Persistence Virtue of Persistence At the beginning of your upkeep, put target creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. , as well as pure ramp cards like Beanstalk Giant Beanstalk Giant Beanstalk Giant's power and toughness are each equal to the number of lands you control. , to bridge the gap until Quintorius can be cast.

Both Pioneer decks essentially have eight primary win conditions: four copies of Trumpeting Carnosaur and four copies of either Appraiser or Quintorius (in Historic, players get to add Pantlaza, Sun-Favored Pantlaza, Sun-Favored Whenever Pantlaza or another Dinosaur you control enters, you may discover X, where X is that creature's toughness. Do this only once each turn. (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with that mana value or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.) as well). As a result, these decks do require mulliganing some to find these cards. Additionally, to maximize Carnosaur, both decks have to fill the remaining non-Land slots with cards that cost six or more mana, ensuring that Carnosaur’s Discover 5 ability will hit combo pieces. This opens the door for some disruptive elements to be quite strong against these decks.

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Disruption

The first type of disruption that can be quite effective against these strategies is counter magic. One major difference between Discover and Cascade as that Discover is not a cast trigger. This means that, as long as you counter the original Discover spell, your opponent won’t get any Discover triggers. Counterspells like Disdainful Stroke Disdainful Stroke Counter target spell with mana value 4 or greater. are particularly strong because they can’t be answered by specific removal from the opponent.

For instance, running Creature-based interaction may sound reasonable in theory, but is much easier for either Discover combo deck to answer. Cards like Strict Proctor Strict Proctor Flying
Whenever a permanent entering causes a triggered ability to trigger, counter that ability unless its controller pays {2}. can stop Carnosaur or Appraiser from letting your opponent Discover in the first place. Similarly, because they are ultimately casting the cards they Discover into from exile, cards like Archon of Emeria Archon of Emeria Flying
Each player can't cast more than one spell each turn.
Nonbasic lands your opponents control enter tapped. can be effective. The issue is that there are a multitude of answers to these cards available for Discover combo players.

Trumpeting Carnosaur alone can be discarded to deal three damage to a Creature. Sure, Eidolon of Rhetoric Eidolon of Rhetoric Each player can't cast more than one spell each turn. has four-toughness but is not immune to Leyline Binding Leyline Binding Flash
Domain — This spell costs {1} less to cast for each basic land type among lands you control.
When this enchantment enters, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls until this enchantment leaves the battlefield. or Consign//Oblivion. Neither are non-Creature pieces of interaction, such as Damping Sphere Damping Sphere If a land is tapped for two or more mana, it produces {C} instead of any other type and amount.
Each spell a player casts costs {1} more to cast for each other spell that player has cast this turn. . Counterspells get around all of these cards, and because of the mana value restrictions associated with Discover combo, there’s no need to fear something cheap like Mystical Dispute Mystical Dispute This spell costs {2} less to cast if it targets a blue spell.
Counter target spell unless its controller pays {3}. that could help push the combo through.

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Adding Pressure

The concern with only relying on Counterspells, though, is that in games two and three, your opponent will almost certainly be prepared. Many Discover combo decklists are already jamming Thought Distortion Thought Distortion This spell can't be countered.
Target opponent reveals their hand. Exile all noncreature, nonland cards from that player's hand and graveyard. and Chandra, Awakened Inferno Chandra, Awakened Inferno This spell can't be countered.
+2: Each opponent gets an emblem with "At the beginning of your upkeep, this emblem deals 1 damage to you."
−3: Chandra deals 3 damage to each non-Elemental creature.
−X: Chandra deals X damage to target creature or planeswalker. If a permanent dealt damage this way would die this turn, exile it instead. as backbreaking, uncounterable cards. This is a big problem for decks like Azorius control that would normally try to sit back on Teferi, Hero of Dominaria Teferi, Hero of Dominaria +1: Draw a card. At the beginning of the next end step, untap up to two lands.
−3: Put target nonland permanent into its owner's library third from the top.
−8: You get an emblem with "Whenever you draw a card, exile target permanent an opponent controls." and simply try to counter any relevant Discover card played.

This doesn’t mean that counter spells aren’t solid pieces of disruption, though. It just means that you may need to back them up with pressure. For decks like Azorius control, if you know your Discover opponent will be packing these uncounterable six-mana cards, consider jamming extra threats in your sideboard that could help win the game in short order. Cards like Brimaz, King of Orsekos can close the game surprisingly quickly and don’t die to Carnosaur. You just have to be careful not to tap too low on mana and risk losing to the combo. Otherwise, Narset’s Reversal Narset’s Reversal Copy target instant or sorcery spell, then return it to its owner's hand. You may choose new targets for the copy. can send a Thought Distortion right back at your opponent.

Flash threats like The Wandering Emperor The Wandering Emperor Flash
As long as The Wandering Emperor entered this turn, you may activate her loyalty abilities any time you could cast an instant.
+1: Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature. It gains first strike until end of turn.
−1: Create a 2/2 white Samurai creature token with vigilance.
−2: Exile target tapped creature. You gain 2 life. are even better, because they allow you to hold up counter magic, then add unexpected pressure to the board if the opponent doesn’t play anything problematic. This is a big reason why Azorius Spirits is kind of a nightmare matchup for Discover combo. Spirits is full of efficient interaction, Flash threats, and a rather quick clock.

If you lean even heavier on pressure, you may be able to race these Discover combo decks with less specific hate pieces. Decks like mono-red aggro, for example, can put immense pressure on the opponent in short order. This pressure, combined with cheap burn spells like Play with Fire Play with Fire Play with Fire deals 2 damage to any target. If a player is dealt damage this way, scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom.) that can remove Appraiser or Quintorius and delay the combo, can be enough to cross the finish line. Add in Roiling Vortex Roiling Vortex At the beginning of each player's upkeep, this enchantment deals 1 damage to them.
Whenever a player casts a spell, if no mana was spent to cast that spell, this enchantment deals 5 damage to that player.
{R}: Your opponents can't gain life this turn. that punishes the opponent for playing cards for free and you’ve got a gameplan.

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Surprising Resilience

What makes Discover combo so threatening, though, is that many decks simply can’t commit this level of pressure and interaction without hindering their overall gameplan. Decks like Lotus Field Lotus Field Hexproof
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, sacrifice two lands.
{T}: Add three mana of any one color. combo, for example, can have trouble disrupting the Discover deck while also developing their mana. While decks like Rakdos midrange do have Thoughtseize Thoughtseize Target player reveals their hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card. You lose 2 life. as a solid tool, the lack of pressure to back it up can be a bit concerning.

Discover combo is simply too fast and too consistent for most archetypes to fight without lots of specific interaction for the matchup. Some decks may have to give up a lot of sideboard slots just to help fight the Discover matchup, which can make other matchups worse.

Azorius Spirits, which has a naturally solid advantage against Discover combo, has a pretty tough time against Izzet Phoenix and Boros Convoke, which are still quite popular. In this sense, simply playing a deck entirely geared towards beating Discover combo isn’t foolproof. For an archetype predicated on resolving somewhat clunky cards, this strategy is significantly more resilient than we initially thought. If you want to beat it, you definitely need to come prepared.

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