Operation Doomsday is a fast paced combo deck (frequently combos off before turn 5) that wins the game with a very consistent DoomsdayLaboratory Maniac combo. The deck uses Oloro, Ageless Ascetic as a general solely for the lifegain and virtually never casts him. The deck can be played in multiplayer and versus (this build has a multiplayer emphasis, I strongly suggest you also check out the primer in the 1 v 1 forum section). Before the deck combos off, it filters, draws, and tutors for necessary combo pieces and protection while also controlling the board. Aside from Doomsday, the deck’s primary combo pieces are Laboratory Maniac (primary win condition), Predict (brings Laboratory Maniac to the graveyard and draws us cards), and Unearth (reanimates Laboratory Maniac). Here’s the decklist:
I’m not going to talk about every card selection, mainly because most of the choices are obvious. However, I do want to talk about a few cards I really like that I find incredibly helpful that are not necessarily obvious inclusions:
Dark Tutelage is a major allstar. Our curve is very low and it’s a second or third Dark Confidant/Phyrexian Arena effect which is obviously very powerful in any combo deck.
The Theros scry lands (Temple of Deceit, Temple of Silence, etc.) help filter the deck.. Although they enter the battlefield tapped, they can be the difference between making and missing a land drop and even winning a turn earlier.
Pact of Negation is perfect for protecting our combo. It allows us to tap out with confidence, and post Doomsday we never have to worry about paying the upkeep cost because we will win before our next upkeep. Aside from Doomsday, Pact of Negation is the card I tutor for the most frequently.
Embargo works so well with Oloro, Ageless Ascetic because the lifegain balanced out the life loss. It heavily punishes decks that rely on mana rocks and prevents all creatures from attacking us.
Telepathy has been a pet card of mine for some time now. Hand information is always useful, especially for a combo control player. Knowing what is in our opponents hand influences all of our decisions including our Doomsday piles. The information also encourages your opponents to keep each other in check while forgetting or undermining our hand.
I am running Jace Beleren over Rhystic Study, because Jace will draw us the card for sure. Jace Beleren acts as a target that directs damage away from us and is also better mid to late game.
Frantic Search is so good. It’s great filtering that is essentially free and is one of the best cards we can Doomsday for if Laboratory Maniac is already in our hand.
The following examples are common and efficient scenarios I’ve found to be effective. In the scenarios listed below, you cast Doomsday, pass your turn, and win during your next turn. If you are concerned about your library being manipulated, fatesealed, or milled until your next upkeep you should keep mana open for counter magic until your next upkeep. You can also win the same turn you cast Doomsday by just adding BBB to the converted mana cost of a pile along with any cantrip.
These are just common scenarios, generally speaking, Gitaxian Probe and Street Wraith can be substituted with protection or counterspells. In these instances, the piles need cantrips in hand and require more mana to combo off.
Usually, these scenarios will win you the game, but there are instances where some of are core combo pieces will be exiled from the game, or we already have fundamental combo pieces like Predict and Unearth in our hand. In these situations, you must really know the deck well and get creative. I strongly encourage you to suggest and offer alternate and additional Doomsday piles.
A few last words:
I run alternate win conditions just in case something like Jester Cap or Sadistic Sacrament hits me, or for some other reason I just can’t Doomsday. I am not running Tainted Pact or Demonic Consultation because my play group has a no infinite/no shortcut rule (my play group is somewhere in between casual and competitive, I’d say more casual than most players here). I must note I am also playing on some what of a budget, if you have Demonic Tutor, Force of Will, Yawgmoth’s Will, or Snapcaster Mage I strongly suggest you run them. Thanks a lot for taking a look at my list, I really appreciate your time and feedback. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions.
With Doomsday, I exile my entire library except for 5 cards. Then I combo out in a matter of seconds the following turn. With Demonic Consultation, I name I card I'm not running, i.e. Mother of Goons, and then I have to reveal several dozen of cards. That takes forever, and my group doesn't play with shortcuts, so I'd actually have to reveal each card. They wouldn't like this. It's the same reason they don't like Mind Over Matter + Azami, Lady of Scrolls, + Laboratory Maniac = win.
My understanding with Tainted Pact is you wouldn't want to run multiple basic lands. This would allow you to cast it when Laboratory Maniac is on the battlefield to exile your library, then you cantrip (Peek) and win the game (ideally you'd want to have counter magic as back up). This would take forever because I'd have to actually exile and reveal all the cards because my group doesn't let me short cut (not to mention I don't have the mana base for it). I guess I could use Tainted Pact sort of like a poor man's Impulse, but because of my mana base there are instances where it would miss and not help me. Is there something I'm missing?
With Doomsday, I exile my entire library except for 5 cards. Then I combo out in a matter of seconds the following turn. With Demonic Consultation, I name I card I'm not running, i.e. Mother of Goons, and then I have to reveal several dozen of cards. That takes forever, and my group doesn't play with shortcuts, so I'd actually have to reveal each card. They wouldn't like this. It's the same reason they don't like Mind Over Matter + Azami, Lady of Scrolls, + Laboratory Maniac = win.
My understanding with Tainted Pact is you wouldn't want to run multiple basic lands. This would allow you to cast it when Laboratory Maniac is on the battlefield to exile your library, then you cantrip (Peek) and win the game (ideally you'd want to have counter magic as back up). This would take forever because I'd have to actually exile and reveal all the cards because my group doesn't let me short cut (not to mention I don't have the mana base for it). I guess I could use Tainted Pact sort of like a poor man's Impulse, but because of my mana base there are instances where it would miss and not help me. Is there something I'm missing?
I was able to runt he mana base for Tainted Pact with a trick my friend told me. If you can get down to just 2 basics of each, just switch one out for the Snow-Covered version. While they both count as basics they have different names.
No short cutting at all? So if you were to tutor for something you wanted to play that would make you search again, would they make you tutor, then shuffle, then play and search all over to have to shuffle again?
Just seems odd because even in tournaments they do allow for some short cutting.
In tournaments they allow a ton of short cutting and infinites (i.e. Birthing Pod). If I played 2 tutors in one turn, say something like Diabolic Tutor and Rampant Growth in 1 turn, they'd be fine with that probably. I think the point of the short cut rule is to discourage players from doing things that are overpowered and feel unnatural to the playgroup, like the Azami combo I mentioned earlier. Initially, it was a soft ban on infinites. The idea is you couldn't slow play or stall on a turn. Like you do a 3 card sacrifice combo to gain 1 million life, instead, you would have to actually do the activation several times to gain as much life as you could in a minute or so, which wouldn't be anywhere near 1 million. Then, the circle just decided to outright ban infinites and unnatural combos, but it's more on the honor system. tl;dr: I know my play circle, they wouldn't like Demonic Consultation or Tainted Pact with Laboratory Maniac.
I so wish I could afford Force of Will. I was trying spells like Daze and Gush, but my list didn't run enough Island for the cards to be reliable. Permission wise, I'm doing well. I frequently tutor Pact of Negation before I Doomsday. I am trying to figure out better ways to incorporate Silence in Doomsday piles without needing Phyrexian Arena or Dark Tutelage because split second cards like Sudden Spoiling I can't answer with Pact of Negation (god I hate split second, it's a stupid non interactive mechanic). So if anyone has any piles I can do with Silence it'd be very helpful.
Operation Doomsday is a fast paced combo deck (frequently combos off before turn 5) that wins the game with a very consistent Doomsday Laboratory Maniac combo. The deck uses Oloro, Ageless Ascetic as a general solely for the lifegain and virtually never casts him. The deck can be played in multiplayer and versus (this build has a multiplayer emphasis, I strongly suggest you also check out the primer in the 1 v 1 forum section). Before the deck combos off, it filters, draws, and tutors for necessary combo pieces and protection while also controlling the board. Aside from Doomsday, the deck’s primary combo pieces are Laboratory Maniac (primary win condition), Predict (brings Laboratory Maniac to the graveyard and draws us cards), and Unearth (reanimates Laboratory Maniac). Here’s the decklist:
1x Doomsday
1x Laboratory Maniac
1x Predict
1x Unearth
Permission/Protection (10)
1x Abeyance
1x Arcane Denial
1x Counterspell
1x Dispel
1x Dissolve
1x Hinder
1x Negate
1x Pact of Negation
1x Silence
1x Swan Song
Removal/Bounce (9)
1x Banishing Stroke
1x Boomerang
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Dismember
1x Embargo
1x Go for the Throat
1x Into the Roil
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Terminus
Draw/Advantage (21)
1x Brainstorm
1x Careful Study
1x Clairvoyance
1x Dark Tutelage
1x Frantic Search
1x Gitaxian Probe
1x Ideas Unbound
1x Impulse
1x Jace Beleren
1x Night's Whisper
1x Opt
1x Peek
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Ponder
1x Preordain
1x Quicken
1x Read the Bones
1x See Beyond
1x Sorcerous Sight
1x Street Wraith
1x Telepathy
1x Beseech the Queen
1x Diabolic Tutor
1x Dimir Machinations
1x Drift of Phantasms
1x Increasing Ambition
1x Lim-Dul's Vault
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Perplex
Alternate Win Condition (3)
1x Magister Sphinx
1x Sorin Markov
1x Oloro, Ageless Ascetic (General)
1x Archaeomancer
1x Call to Mind
1x Pull from Eternity
Ramp/Fixing (3)
1x Dark Ritual
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Sol Ring
Land (38)
1x Adarkar Wastes
1x Arcane Sanctum
1x Caves of Koilos
1x City of Brass
1x Command Tower
1x Darkslick Shores
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Ebon Stronghold
1x Evolving Wilds
1x Exotic Orchard
1x Frost Marsh
1x Glacial Fortress
8x Island
1x Isolated Chapel
1x Jwar Isle Refuge
2x Plains
1x Sejiri Refuge
9x Swamp
1x Temple of Deceit
1x Temple of Silence
1x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Underground River
Card Selection
I’m not going to talk about every card selection, mainly because most of the choices are obvious. However, I do want to talk about a few cards I really like that I find incredibly helpful that are not necessarily obvious inclusions:
Dark Tutelage is a major allstar. Our curve is very low and it’s a second or third Dark Confidant/Phyrexian Arena effect which is obviously very powerful in any combo deck.
The Theros scry lands (Temple of Deceit, Temple of Silence, etc.) help filter the deck.. Although they enter the battlefield tapped, they can be the difference between making and missing a land drop and even winning a turn earlier.
Pact of Negation is perfect for protecting our combo. It allows us to tap out with confidence, and post Doomsday we never have to worry about paying the upkeep cost because we will win before our next upkeep. Aside from Doomsday, Pact of Negation is the card I tutor for the most frequently.
Embargo works so well with Oloro, Ageless Ascetic because the lifegain balanced out the life loss. It heavily punishes decks that rely on mana rocks and prevents all creatures from attacking us.
Telepathy has been a pet card of mine for some time now. Hand information is always useful, especially for a combo control player. Knowing what is in our opponents hand influences all of our decisions including our Doomsday piles. The information also encourages your opponents to keep each other in check while forgetting or undermining our hand.
I am running Jace Beleren over Rhystic Study, because Jace will draw us the card for sure. Jace Beleren acts as a target that directs damage away from us and is also better mid to late game.
Frantic Search is so good. It’s great filtering that is essentially free and is one of the best cards we can Doomsday for if Laboratory Maniac is already in our hand.
Into The Roil is my very poor man’s Cryptic Command. Archaeomancer is my crappy Snapcaster Mage. However, they aren’t strictly worse. Into The Roil can bounce stuff leaving only 2 mana open and Archaeomancer can grab an instant or sorcery we can use several turns later.
Doomsday Piles
The following examples are common and efficient scenarios I’ve found to be effective. In the scenarios listed below, you cast Doomsday, pass your turn, and win during your next turn. If you are concerned about your library being manipulated, fatesealed, or milled until your next upkeep you should keep mana open for counter magic until your next upkeep. You can also win the same turn you cast Doomsday by just adding BBB to the converted mana cost of a pile along with any cantrip.
Quick Win
Requires: 1UB + 4 Life. Generally risky without counter magic or Silence in hand.
With Protection (Reanimate)
Requires: 2WUB and 2 life. If you have a cantrip with a converted mana cost of 1 in your hand, you can substitute Abeyance with Silence.
With Laboratory Maniac in Hand (Reanimate)
Requires: 1UB, 4 life, and 2 Extra cards. The low CMC cost here makes it easy to keep mana open for counterspells.
With Laboratory Maniac in Hand (No Graveyard & Double Protection)
Requires: 2UUU and 4 life.
No Graveyard & Protection
Requires: 2UUU and 4 life.
With Phyrexian Arena/Dark Tutelage in play (Reanimate & Protection)
Requires: 1WUB and 2 life.
With Phyrexian Arena/Dark Tutelage in play (Reanimate + Counter)
Requires: 1UB and 2 life.
With Phyrexian Arena/Dark Tutelage in play (No Graveyard & Protection)
Requires: 1UUU, 4 life and 2 extra cards
Permanent Removal (Hypothetically Ethersworn Canonist/Rule of Law is on the battlefield)
1 Banishing Stroke
+ Any Cantrip (Gitaxian Probe, Ponder, Peek, etc.)
2 Predict
3 Labman
4 Unearth
5 Street Wraith
Needs: 1WUB, cantrip in hand, and 2 life, This combo still works without the cantrip by passing the turn and winning on the following turn.
These are just common scenarios, generally speaking, Gitaxian Probe and Street Wraith can be substituted with protection or counterspells. In these instances, the piles need cantrips in hand and require more mana to combo off.
Usually, these scenarios will win you the game, but there are instances where some of are core combo pieces will be exiled from the game, or we already have fundamental combo pieces like Predict and Unearth in our hand. In these situations, you must really know the deck well and get creative. I strongly encourage you to suggest and offer alternate and additional Doomsday piles.
A few last words:
I run alternate win conditions just in case something like Jester Cap or Sadistic Sacrament hits me, or for some other reason I just can’t Doomsday. I am not running Tainted Pact or Demonic Consultation because my play group has a no infinite/no shortcut rule (my play group is somewhere in between casual and competitive, I’d say more casual than most players here). I must note I am also playing on some what of a budget, if you have Demonic Tutor, Force of Will, Yawgmoth’s Will, or Snapcaster Mage I strongly suggest you run them. Thanks a lot for taking a look at my list, I really appreciate your time and feedback. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
If anything Tainted Pact is harder since you need to adjust the mana base so there is only one of each.
My understanding with Tainted Pact is you wouldn't want to run multiple basic lands. This would allow you to cast it when Laboratory Maniac is on the battlefield to exile your library, then you cantrip (Peek) and win the game (ideally you'd want to have counter magic as back up). This would take forever because I'd have to actually exile and reveal all the cards because my group doesn't let me short cut (not to mention I don't have the mana base for it). I guess I could use Tainted Pact sort of like a poor man's Impulse, but because of my mana base there are instances where it would miss and not help me. Is there something I'm missing?
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
I was able to runt he mana base for Tainted Pact with a trick my friend told me. If you can get down to just 2 basics of each, just switch one out for the Snow-Covered version. While they both count as basics they have different names.
No short cutting at all? So if you were to tutor for something you wanted to play that would make you search again, would they make you tutor, then shuffle, then play and search all over to have to shuffle again?
Just seems odd because even in tournaments they do allow for some short cutting.
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[Modern] Allies
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Please do not make bump posts without additional relevant content. Warning for spamming the forum - BlackVise
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate