With the Secrets of Strixhaven spoiler season just underway, Magic is preparing for the third major shake-up of the year. Usually, this marks the end of the cycle for the previous expansion, but in this case, TMNT seems to want to leave its mark with one last interesting discovery. A few days before Strixhaven's debut, some players have identified a new combo with Don & Leo, Problem Solvers. It's unlikely to truly shift the balance of current Standard, but its potential in Commander is definitely concrete.
How the blink combo with Don & Leo works
The combo, reported by MTG Creative Combos, requires three pieces:
Once all three cards are on the battlefield, at the end of your turn, you can activate Don & Leo to blink Kirol and Watcher. With the ability on the stack, you can tap both creatures for Kirol's ability, copying the blink trigger.
At that point, the key event happens: the copied trigger resolves first, bringing Kirol and Watcher back. When they re-enter, you can tap both again to copy the original trigger. This loop can be repeated infinitely.
The result is immediate:
- Watcher enters infinitely → infinite mill and infinite life gain
- automatic win in most cases
The interesting thing is that Watcher isn't even mandatory. You can replace it with other artifact creatures:
- Mechanized Ninja Cavalry → infinite 1/1 tokens
- Pactdoll Terror → infinite drain
Standard space: theoretically yes, realistically difficult
Being a three-card combo, it's not even that difficult to fit into a Standard shell. Moreover, it's surprisingly flexible: all pieces are technically playable even in mono
.
That said, the most logical natural home remains a 
Blink build. And it's no coincidence: a Jeskai Blink version already exists and has achieved decent results.
The deck leverages cards like Parting Gust to generate value with Quantum Riddler and Shiko, Paragon of the Way. In this context, Don & Leo, Problem Solvers adds an additional source of blink, making it plausible that the combo will be tested in that archetype.
The problem is the format context.
Current Standard is extremely fast:
- aggressive Izzet decks
- Landfall strategies
- constant pressure in the early turns
Winning on turn five is theoretically sufficient, but in practice, you're often already under too much pressure to assemble the combo comfortably.
The comparison that puts the combo into perspective
A good benchmark is Bant Airbending, another infinite combo already present in the format.
- it also wins two turns earlier
- uses pieces that are more playable individually
Yet it's almost absent from the meta.
If a more efficient version of the same concept struggles to find space, it's difficult to imagine that the Don & Leo combo can do better. For now, it remains a fascinating solution, but more theoretical than competitive.
Where it can truly shine: Commander
The situation changes completely in Commander.
Here you have:
- more time to assemble the combo
- more non-green ramp
- more protection tools
- a much wider pool of artifact creatures
Cards like Solemn Simulacrum or Triskelion open up very interesting alternative lines.
Of course, you need to be at least in Jeskai colors to play all the pieces, but that's not a problem: commanders like Cayth, Famed Mechanist perfectly support this type of strategy.
Furthermore, all the combo pieces also work well on their own, generating value independently of the infinite loop. This is exactly the type of combination that tends to spread rapidly in Commander.
The combo with Don & Leo, Problem Solvers is elegant, modular, and surprisingly flexible. In Standard, it's hindered by a format that is too fast, but in Commander, it has all the makings to become a stable presence.
It's not the typical fragile combo that lives or dies all together: each piece does something even on its own. And it's precisely this that makes it, probably, much more dangerous than it seems at first glance.
If you want to delve deeper, here are the Standard deck and video from MTG Creative Combos:
Don And Leo Infinite
- 4 × Don & Leo, Problem Solvers
- 4 × Kirol, Attentive First-Year
- 4 × Pactdoll Terror
- 4 × Watcher of the Wayside
- 2 × Deep-Cavern Bat
- 2 × Mechanized Ninja Cavalry
- 4 × Carrot Cake
- 4 × Grim Bauble
- 4 × The Seriema
- 4 × Tithing Blade
- 5 × Plains
- 5 × Swamp
- 4 × Bleachbone Verge
- 4 × Concealed Courtyard
- 4 × Godless Shrine
- 2 × Restless Fortress
