The Turn That Never Ends: Final Fortune Meets Sundial of the Infinite
A "borrowed" extra turn that becomes infinite thanks to an old clock: here's how to never pay the bill.
Have you ever wondered why some of the "cursed" cards from the '90s still strike fear into modern Commander tables? Final Fortune is one of those: it gives you an extra turn, but in the end you lose the game. A loan with interest, literally. The thing is, someone, sooner or later, found a way to never pay back the debt.
The mechanism: how the loan gets repaid (or doesn't)
Let's start with the why, not the what. Final Fortune works like this: you cast the spell, you take an extra turn, but when that turn ends you lose the game "instead of the normal final turn". It's a delayed trigger, a reminder that fires at the end of the turn.
And this is where Sundial of the Infinite comes in. This artifact lets you, for one mana and exiling itself at end of turn, end your turn early — before end-of-turn triggers get the chance to resolve. Essentially, you're closing the door before the mailman delivers the letter with the bill to pay. Final Fortune's losing trigger gets exiled along with everything else and never resolves.
Result: you get a free extra turn. But the real magic (literally) happens when you add Isochron Scepter into the mix. By imprinting Final Fortune on the Scepter, you can cast it again for two mana whenever you want. Every extra turn generated by Final Fortune gives you another turn, in which you can reactivate the Scepter, recast Final Fortune, take another extra turn, and shut it down again with Sundial before the bill arrives. Infinite turns, mana permitting.
Where this combo lives: color identity and commanders
Isochron Scepter is colorless, Sundial of the Infinite is colorless, Final Fortune is red. The combined color identity is mono red, which means this combo slots comfortably into any deck with red in its identity, not just pure mono-red builds.
Some fitting commanders:
- Zada, Hedron Grinder — mono red, loves cheap artifacts and extra turns to push damage.
- Krenko, Mob Boss — mono red aggro, an extra turn suits it as well as oxygen does.
- Feldon of the Third Path — Red/anything second color, if you add a second color the combo stays legal and opens up more support.
- Kykar, Wind's Fury — Jeskai, if you want to slot it into a more controlling deck with blue protection.
- Neheb, the Eternal — mono red, generates mana in droves right when you take extra turns, a natural synergy with the Scepter that recycles mana into actions.
The lines of play: how to execute it and how to protect it
The typical sequence: you cast Final Fortune imprinted on the Scepter (or you imprint it after having cast it once already, timing depends on your hand). You activate Sundial of the Infinite at the end of the turn to avoid losing. On the extra turn, you activate the Scepter again for two mana, recast Final Fortune, take another extra turn, repeat.
The bottleneck is mana: you need two mana available each cycle to reactivate the Scepter, plus one mana for Sundial. With a bit of ramp or a mana rock like Neheb, the loop becomes sustainable indefinitely, or at least until you decide to stop and play your actual game.
Watch out for interactions: if someone removes the Scepter while Final Fortune is imprinted, the card gets exiled forever — no easy recovery. Protect the Scepter with counterspells or remove the threat before starting the loop if you're at a table with ready artifact removal. And remember: Sundial needs to be activated before the losing trigger goes on the stack at end of turn, not after — the timing is tight but manageable with a bit of practice.
Budget vs Premium: there's really no choice here
The good news is that this combo is already the budget version of itself: €29.99 total for pieces that usually cost an arm and a leg in other contexts. Isochron Scepter €9.52, Sundial of the Infinite €11.20, Final Fortune €9.27. There are no "premium" alternatives to point out here: these are three specific cards, and there aren't equivalents that do the same job better. The quality of the combo lies in the design, not in the price.
The key takeaway
Final Fortune lends you a turn and asks for the game in return; Sundial of the Infinite tears up the IOU before the debt collector arrives; Isochron Scepter lets you do it infinitely. Bracket 4 minimum because this is a genuine infinite combo with an explicit game plan, but the buy-in is ridiculously low for the effect it produces: watch out for anyone with a Scepter and red instants on the table — it might not be your last turn.
Generato dalla pipeline Forge Insights sui nostri dati proprietari: Qdrant per la similarity vettoriale, Cardmarket per lo storico prezzi giornaliero, il pool di commander legali al formato. Revisionato manualmente prima della pubblicazione.