Yurlok Infinity Combo (EDH / Commander)

The history of this deck has seen a few versions (and commanders) since 2019, switching between Yurlok and Xira depending on how I felt at the time. v1.0 revolved around old school mana burn / Manabarbs / Powersurge, and it was quite fine. The v2.0 Xira Arien was a convoluted draw engine which repeatedly untapped or bounced Xira to force opponents to draw their entire deck(s). This quirky path required a lot of pieces and still needed infinite mana. (Usually the simplest route just resulted in targeting myself with Xira until I drew one of the mana sink wincons for the same result.)

Revisiting the deck in 2023, Yurlok returns as the most productive way to win with Big Mana. The nature of the deck is an infinite mana combo. I can’t deny it, so putting one half of the combo in the CZ is the logical solution to shorten up the mid-game.

Step one is Ramp. Play as much cheap mana to get Yurlok out ASAP. (Realistically though, turn 3 is the earliest outside of a freak opening hand.) Feel free to cast Mana Flare effects. The more the better, and I wouldn’t worry about sharing mana with opponents. High risk is high reward, and this deck is well-suited to capitalize on the mana. Draw recklessly to find the other half of the untap engine and/or mana sink(s). I utilize many "Looting" effects here, as I don't really care about discarding non-combo components.

Yurlok easily slips into an infinite loop with traditional combo pieces like Umbral Mantle or Sword of the Paruns. This route dumps infinite mana on your opponent, which is difficult to deal with if unprepared. Meanwhile, if you can generate extra mana in the process ou'll be creating an infinite surplus yourself too:

Infinite Surplus - Leyline of Abundance, Mana Reflection, Nyxbloom Ancient

The deck also runs a heathy Worldgorger Dragon package. While discarding Worldgorger early will alert the pod something may be afoot, a single reanimation spell not only makes infinite mana, but could result in other infinite loops:

Infinite life - Radiant Fountain
Instant Death - Piranha Marsh, Sunscorched Desert

So it turns out there are a lot of paths to win if you have infinite mana. Pick which one suits you best:

Infinite Damage - Comet Storm, Crackle with Power, Kumano, Master Yamabushi
Infinite Attack - Aggravated Assault
Infinite Buff - Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief, Keldon Mantle, Kessig Wolf Run
Infinite Swarm - Ant Queen, Hydra Broodmaster, Ogre Battledriver
Infinite Theft - Olivia Voldaren
Alternate Win - Helix Pinnacle

Of course this explanation is revolving around the premise that going infinite is the ONLY way this deck can win. Far from it. If you run into snags or just want to play slower, play the X spells or unbounded mana sinks in incremental amounts. You still get a reasonable effect and you’re not pressured to “go for it” every game.