Novijen, Heart of Progress: Top MTG Combos for Value

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Novijen, Heart of Progress — MTG card art from Commander 2021

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Novijen, Heart of Progress: Top MTG Combos for Value

Novijen, Heart of Progress sits at the crossroads of colorless efficiency and green-blue flexibility in Commander 2021. This land doesn’t just tap for mana; it carves out a whole playstyle—one that rewards you for the precise moment your creatures enter the battlefield. Its second ability, "{G}{U}, {T}: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature that entered this turn," invites you to orchestrate a sequence where every new creature you bring to the party gets a plus-one boost. That can turn a modest token swarm into a heralded onslaught of empowered threats, or it can give your battle line enough muscle to close out a game after a big ETB turn. In short: this is a card that rewards planful timing, big token pools, and clever synergies with counter-management. 🧙‍♂️🔥💎

In practice, the land’s effectiveness grows the more you lean into ETB (enter-the-battlefield) triggers and counter-doubling mechanics. If you can produce several creatures that enter this turn, you can flood the board with counters in a single activation, turning a handful of attackers into an avalanche of force. And yes, you can mix it with your favorite draw-spells and ramp—Novijen’s mana is free to generate, while the real payoff sits in the counters you’ll place on those entering creatures. It’s a recipe for value, resilience, and jaw-dropping board states. ⚔️

Top combos that deliver the most bang for your buck

  • Avenger of Zendikar + Panharmonicon + Novijen, Heart of Progress — When Avenger of Zendikar enters the battlefield, it creates a number of Plant tokens equal to the number of lands you control (and Panharmonicon doubles ETB triggers). That means a single Evenger ETB can become a bloated swarm of Plant creatures, all of which entered this turn. Tap Novijen to place +1/+1 counters on every creature that entered this turn—every Plant token and the Avenger itself get bigger in a single swoop. If you’ve got a Doubling Season out as well, you’re not just doubling tokens—you’re doubling the number of counters placed on each entering creature. The board becomes a living, breathing counter machine, and your green-blue army starts indexing toward unstoppable pressure. 🧙‍♂️🔥
  • Token-swarm with Doubling Season and Hardened Scales — In a turn with multiple ETB events, you can position Novijen to pump counters onto all creatures that entered that turn. Doubling Season doubles the number of +1/+1 counters placed, and Hardened Scales acts as a replacement effect that increases those counters again for any creature you control. The result is a cascade: a small swarm explodes into a counter-charged battalion, and your board state remains durable enough to weather a board wipe or two. For a practical touch, pair this with a reliable token generator (e.g., a creature that creates tokens on ETB) and watch your lab rats turn into battle-hardened behemoths. 🧪💥
  • Avenger of Zendikar splash with Contagion Clasp (and proliferate engine) — After Avenger’s ETB creates tokens, you can chain in additional ETB sources to multiply enter events this turn. Use Contagion Clasp to add a proliferate step later on—each activation spreads +1/+1 counters to any number of targets that already carry counters. Your entering creatures soak up counters, and your other non-token threats benefit from the same treatment as you ride the recursive wave of value. This is a cleaner, more incremental route to a late-game board where every creature is a walking, growing argument for your deck’s strategy. 🎲
  • Big ETB waves with a counter-cascade finish — Build a plan around a few potent ETB creatures (think of something like Avenger of Zendikar as a centerpiece, plus a couple of strong token producers). Use Novijen after the first wave to place counters on everything that entered that turn; then leverage cards that reward large enters (or that can re-enter via flicker effects) to trigger another round of casts while your counters persist. The result is a dynamic, crescendo-like finish where the board state escalates with each passing moment. The counter-cascade becomes your signature line, and your opponents are left staring at a wall of buffed threats that just keeps getting bigger. 💥⚔️

These combos aren’t just about raw power—they’re about tempo, timing, and the satisfying “aha” moment when you realize you’ve turned a single land into a wave of countered glory. Novijen rewards you for thinking in turns and sequences, not just mana curves. And because it lives in color identity GU, you can weave it into a variety of archetypes—from tempo-driven control shells to token-centric ramp decks. The flavor text from Momir Vig about the city’s unnatural pressures landing on those who adapt with unusual swiftness feels especially apt when you watch a board transform on one activation. Adaptation is progress; progress is momentum. 🧙‍♂️🎨

“The unnatural pressures of life in this city are best withstood by lifeforms that adapt with unnatural swiftness.” — Momir Vig

Beyond the sheer spectacle, Novijen also teaches a broader design philosophy: a land that supports both mana and synergy can unlock complex lines that feel elegant rather than clunky. It invites you to embrace the joy of planning around ETBs, token spawns, and counters—the core recipe for a lot of modern green-blue Commander brilliance. If you’re building in this vein, think about how you sequence your plays to ensure every entering creature counts for that turn’s counter-pulse. The payoff is not just bigger bodies; it’s smarter bodies, all buffed in one explosive moment. 🧙‍♂️💎

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Pro-tip: if you want to push the envelope even further, consider adding a few counter-supporting permanents (like Hardened Scales, Forgotten Ancient, or proliferate options) to keep the momentum flowing across turns. The love here is in the layering: more enters, more counters, and a board that scales with each passing moment.

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