Tier roguecombo

Fluctuator

Cycling Combo

Featured list~$28811th Tuesday Night Event @ Taberna TopDeck (Coimbra, Portugal)

Overview

"Fluctuator is a solitaire combo deck that resolves Fluctuator to drop all cycling costs to zero, then chains through Sandbar Merfolk, Pendrell Drake, Keeneye Aven, Primoc Escapee, and Drifting Djinn to dump creatures into the graveyard in a single turn. Songs of the Damned converts every creature there into a burst of black mana, fueling a lethal Drain Life or a Haunting Misery that exiles the pile to drain the opponent out. Its mana base of almost entirely cycling lands keeps the engine consistent while presenting no threats before the combo fires."

Game Plan

The deck aims to resolve Fluctuator, which reduces cycling costs to zero. It then cycles through a deck packed with cycling cards to fill the graveyard, culminating in a lethal Haunting Misery or a massive Drain Life.

Key Cards

Core engine & flex

Blasted Landscape

$1.59

TCG MP CK

Polluted Mire

$0.24

TCG MP CK

Remote Isle

$0.38

TCG MP CK

Pendrell Drake

$0.15

TCG MP CK

Signature

Fluctuator

$5.88

TCG MP CK

Keeneye Aven

$0.11

TCG MP CK

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Sample Decklists

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11th Tuesday Night Event @ Taberna TopDeck (Coimbra, Portugal)

1st PlaceJun 11, 2024

Vítor Silva

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Vítor Silva

TCG

Mainboard (60)

$50.75

Creature (26)

$10.48

$4.801U

$2.604UU

$0.333U

$0.603U

$0.926U

$0.60U

$0.634U

Instant (6)

$4.78

$0.132B

$0.231W

$1.801U

$2.62B

Sorcery (1)

$0.30

1Drain Life

$0.30X1B

Artifact (4)

$23.52

4Fluctuator

$23.522

Land (23)

$11.67

$6.36

$0.80

$0.57

$0.96

$1.52

$0.54

$0.92

Sideboard (15)

$238

$0.321W

$0.262B

$0.231W

$0.311R

$37.770

$1923UU

$0.482R

$2.62B

$3.304BB

Est. Total$288

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7th Event @ Taberna TopDeck (Coimbra, Portugal)

1st PlaceMay 14, 2024

Ivo Pessoa

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Ivo Pessoa

TCG

Mainboard (60)

$50.75

Creature (26)

$10.48

$4.801U

$2.604UU

$0.333U

$0.603U

$0.926U

$0.60U

$0.634U

Instant (6)

$4.78

$0.132B

$0.231W

$1.801U

$2.62B

Sorcery (1)

$0.30

1Drain Life

$0.30X1B

Artifact (4)

$23.52

4Fluctuator

$23.522

Land (23)

$11.67

$6.36

$0.80

$0.57

$0.96

$1.52

$0.54

$0.92

Sideboard (15)

$238

$0.321W

$0.262B

$0.231W

$0.311R

$37.770

$1923UU

$0.482R

$2.62B

$3.304BB

Est. Total$288

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Liga 2023 16ª Jornada @ Alicante (Spain)

1st PlaceAug 5, 2023

Sardaukar

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Sardaukar

TCG

Mainboard (61)61-card deck

$51.02

Creature (26)

$10.48

$4.801U

$2.604UU

$0.333U

$0.603U

$0.926U

$0.60U

$0.634U

Instant (6)

$4.78

$0.132B

$0.231W

$1.801U

$2.62B

Sorcery (1)

$0.30

1Drain Life

$0.30X1B

Artifact (4)

$23.52

4Fluctuator

$23.522

Land (24)

$11.94

$6.36

$0.80

$0.57

$0.96

$1.52

$0.81

$0.92

Sideboard (15)

$238

$0.321W

$0.262B

$0.231W

$0.311R

$37.770

$1923UU

$0.482R

$2.62B

$3.304BB

Est. Total$289

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Archetype Anatomy

Based on 51 decks with known dates(52 total)2021-06-30 to 2026-06-14

Mana Base

Average23.3lands

Median25lands

Range18–25lands

Spells36.7avg non-land

Based on 51 decks (All-time)

core Cards(>80%)

Fluctuator

100%

4.0x

Polluted Mire

100%

4.0x

Remote Isle

100%

4.0x

Blasted Landscape

100%

4.0x

Pendrell Drake

100%

4.0x

Keeneye Aven

100%

3.9x

Drifting Meadow

100%

3.7x

Songs of the Damned

100%

1.1x

Dromar's Cavern

98%

1.0x

Slippery Karst

94%

3.7x

Primoc Escapee

90%

3.8x

Smoldering Crater

90%

3.4x

Cloud of Faeries

86%

4.0x

Drain Life

80%

1.0x

flex Cards(30-80%)

Sandbar Merfolk

78%

4.0x

Drifting Djinn

76%

3.4x

Sandbar Serpent

69%

2.5x

Expunge

59%

1.8x

Gilded Light

59%

1.2x

Miscalculation

47%

2.4x

Haunting Misery

33%

1.0x

fringe Cards(<30%)

Lotus Petal

29%

1.0x

Disciple of Grace

27%

3.5x

Disciple of Malice

25%

3.9x

Disciple of Law

24%

3.1x

Barkhide Mauler

22%

3.7x

Darkwatch Elves

16%

3.9x

Bloated Toad

14%

3.9x

2.5x

1.3x

1.0x

3.5x

1.0x

3.0x

2.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

1.0x

Sideboard Anatomy

flex Sideboard Options(30-80%)

Gilded Light

72.9%

1.3x

Clear

70.6%

1.4x

Misdirection

67.3%

3.9x

Songs Of The Damned

66.9%

1.0x

Expunge

64.8%

1.3x

Miscalculation

63.8%

3.5x

Twilight'S Call

63%

1.9x

Lotus Petal

57.3%

1.0x

fringe Sideboard Options(<30%)

Living Death

27.9%

2.3x

Rapid Decay

25.2%

2.8x

Null Rod

18%

2.0x

Chill

15.8%

2.0x

Duress

15.8%

4.0x

Swamp

15.8%

1.0x

Lightning Rift

13.9%

1.4x

Repopulate

7.8%

1.1x

Rebuild

6.7%

1.3x

Orim'S Chant

6.5%

1.7x

Lull

6.3%

2.9x

Scrap

5.6%

1.7x

Drain Life

4.6%

1.0x

Enlightened Tutor

3.6%

1.0x

Hush

3.6%

1.0x

Dromar'S Cavern

3.6%

1.0x

Sicken

3.5%

1.6x

Rune Of Protection: Artifacts

3.3%

1.0x

Blood Celebrant

2.8%

1.0x

Flamewave Invoker

2.8%

1.0x

Tormod'S Crypt

2.7%

1.0x

Hoodwink

2.6%

2.0x

Kaervek'S Torch

2.2%

1.0x

Haunting Misery

1.9%

1.0x

Engineered Plague

1.8%

1.0x

Gaea'S Blessing

1.8%

1.0x

Argivian Find

1.8%

1.0x

Disciple Of Grace

1.5%

2.0x

Recoup

1.3%

1.0x

Swat

1.3%

1.0x

Rescind

1.0x

Rune Of Protection: Red

2.0x

Recent Events Featuring this Archetype

PMPMPMPM XXXVII - Charity Event @ Rose City Premodern

2026-06-14•Portland, OR•34 Players

Highest Finish: 13th

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Magico Conclave Etrusco - Lega Spartana II tappa

2026-06-12•Cecina, Italy•27 Players

Highest Finish: 2nd

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Mensa RJ @ Cards of Paradise (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

2026-04-11•Rio de Janeiro, Brazil•12 Players

Highest Finish: 10th

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Premodern Challenge 32 (2026-04-07)

2026-04-07•Magic Online•64 Players

Highest Finish: 32th

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Crab Cup Invitational Qualifier 2026 #3 @ Amazing Discoveries (Tucson, AZ)

2026-03-28•Tucson, USA•50 Players

Highest Finish: 5th

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Core Combos

Songs of the Damned - old-border printing

intermediate

NEAR-INFINITE

Fluctuator Combo

direct damage Strategy

"Lethal direct damage typically on turns 2–4."

Stiflenought

general Strategy

"Turn 1 or 2 12/12 Creature"

2 Steps

Master the loop

Quick Facts

Tierrogue

Stylecombo

Meta Share0.2%

Avg Lands23.3

Est. Price~$288

Colors

Deck Weaknesses

All — in artifact dependency - the zero-cost cycling engine lives entirely on Fluctuator, an artifact; remove it and every cycling card reverts to full price, so the deck can no longer churn enough cards to fuel Songs of the Damned or land a lethal Drain Life.
Graveyard as a single critical resource — Songs of the Damned produces the mana for Drain Life by counting creatures in the graveyard, so any effect that exiles the yard mid-chain wipes out both the mana engine and the kill at the same instant.
Zero protection during the combo turn — the deck is almost all cyclers plus Miscalculation and Gilded Light, so it cannot shield Fluctuator from removal once it goes off and cannot stop a racing opponent from dealing lethal while it digs.
Fragile single — threat plan - with Fluctuator answered and the graveyard exiled there is no redundant win, and falling back on Primoc Escapee, Keeneye Aven, or Drifting Djinn is slow and folds to spot removal or a board sweeper.

How to win with it

Mulligan ruthlessly for Fluctuator, or a hand that can dig to it within a draw step or two: without Fluctuator on the battlefield every cycling creature costs full price and the deck does nothing, so a hand of cycling creatures and lands with no Fluctuator and no way to find it is a mulligan, while a hand with Fluctuator plus four lands to cast it is a snap keep.
Sequence to land Fluctuator on turn four (its cost is four generic) with mana left to protect it, then dump your hand: once it resolves, every cycling card costs two less, which is free for this deck since Keeneye Aven, Pendrell Drake, Primoc Escapee, Cloud of Faeries, Sandbar Merfolk, Sandbar Serpent, Drifting Djinn, and Gilded Light all cycle for two or less, so chain them all to stack creatures in your graveyard at no mana cost.
Pick your kill before you start the turn: Songs of the Damned adds one black mana per creature card in your graveyard, so the Drain Life line is to cast Songs of the Damned, then sink that pool plus your remaining lands into Drain Life (X1BB) for lethal, while the Haunting Misery line spends Songs of the Damned mana on its 3BB cost and removes your buried creatures to drain that many life directly.
Hold Miscalculation to defend the combo, not to enable it: keep one untapped island and U behind so Miscalculation can counter interaction on the turn you resolve Fluctuator or untap with it, and remember Gilded Light cycles for free under Fluctuator and can buy you a turn of protection if you need one more draw to assemble the kill.
The dream draw is Fluctuator on turn four into a free cycle chain and Songs of the Damned plus Drain Life for the kill that same turn or the next; the grind plan, when Fluctuator is countered or absent, is to rebuild to enough mana to recast it and compress cycling plus the finisher into one turn so the opponent cannot answer Fluctuator and the kill spell separately.
The key decision is when to stop cycling and fire: count creature cards in your graveyard against your kill, because Songs of the Damned scales off that count, so cycle until Songs of the Damned plus your lands cover Drain Life for lethal (or enough creatures sit in the yard for Haunting Misery to finish), and stop one card early rather than cycling away the land or untapped mana you need to actually cast the finisher.

How to beat it

Destroy Fluctuator before the combo turn, ideally with instant-speed artifact removal the moment it resolves or in response to the first free cycle; without it every cycler reverts to its natural one-to-three mana cost and the deck can no longer dig fast enough to assemble its kill.
Race them down: the deck runs almost no early interaction (only Miscalculation and Gilded Light slow you), so a fast board ends the game before Fluctuator plus enough cyclers come together over multiple setup turns.
Counter Fluctuator with permission as it resolves and force a fair game; the rest of the deck (Primoc Escapee, Pendrell Drake, Keeneye Aven, Drifting Djinn) is just medium-cost fliers that lose a normal damage race.
Attack the graveyard: Songs of the Damned converts buried creatures into a burst of mana for a lethal Drain Life, so graveyard hate applied mid-chain, exiling the yard in response to Songs of the Damned, removes the mana source and starves the finisher at once.
If the combo stalls and they try to pivot to a creature beatdown, an edict effect forces them to sacrifice a creature of their choice; with only irrelevant bodies like Sandbar Merfolk, Sandbar Serpent, and Cloud of Faeries on board, repeated forced sacrifice keeps that backup plan from getting off the ground.

Last Updated: 2026-05-31