Ad Nauseam being my favorite deck in Modern (I only play non-interactive combo decks), I'm brewing a version that could be adapted to Legacy in order to see competitive play : the idea is to bring this deck to a certain level of competitivity, meaning starting from local FNMs to more major tournament (PPTQs, PTQs, etc.). The main difference with Spooky's version is that this one goes off at instant speed, which is the biggest upside of the Modern Ad Nauseam deck. Let's get to it with the list :
Creatures :
1) 3 Simian Spirit Guide provide acceleration that could be used to cast Ad Nauseam, on Cunning Wish, etc. I'm pretty sure that 3 is the optimal number, but 4 could be acceptable (but I would need evidence of that).
Spells :
1) Firestorm can go off at instant for only 1 red mana (exiling 1 Simian Spirit Guide). Before that, I was playing with a janky win condition:
So I've come a long to see that Firestorm is the best win condition. If you think of something else, please say so.
2) 1 Swords to Plowshares to clear things that couldn't be dealt with. A single Spellskite for example make the whole operation fizzle.
3) Acceleration : 4 Cabal Ritual, 4 Dark Ritual, 4 Lotus Petal and 3 Simian Spirit Guide to get there by turn 3 consistently (turn 2 is bellow average). 15 cards for that is the maximum I'd say.
4) Cantrips : 4 Brainstorm, 4 Ponder and 2 Preordain for 10 cantrips is the good balance for digging in my opinion so far with experience.
5) Protection for the combo : 4 Pact of Negation provide safety for the combo (to protect Ad Nauseam and once it resolves, to counter everything after you've drawn the entire deck) and 3 Duressto disrupt to opponent's hand (in order to avoid hand disruption on our side). Also, 4 Cunning Wish can tutor for protection in the sideboard for longer games.
6) The combo itself : 4 Cunning Wish (for tutoring in the sideboard), 3 Ad Nauseam and 3 Angel's Grace. This gives you virtually 7 pieces for each half of the combo in the mainboard, which is the most consistency you can get.
Mana base : it's pretty straightforward. Having 3 basics is ideal, 8 fetchlands to get the duals and thin out the deck (as well as making perfect Brainstorm and the rest is duals.
Sideboard : the whole concept of the sideboard is to use Cunning Wish to our advantage, so it's almost only instants.
1) Boseiju, Who Shelters All is the ultimate protection which can be brough in for control matchups. Tap it when casting Ad Nauseam and it's a free win.
2) 4 Leyline of Sanctity to protect us against hand disruption.
3) Patrician's Scorn is a must have to destroy Leyline of Sanctity before casting Firestorm. It's a free spell also because of Angel's Grace
4) Things to consider :
4.1) Echoing Truth or Wipe Away? Not sure if the split second is worth it for a 3 CMC over a 2 CMC that could be countered. Thoughts?
4.2) I'm not sure about 2 Dispel. These two spots could become a 2nd Darkness and a 2nd Silence. Thoughts?
4.3) 1 Swords to Plowshares might be overkill here : there's already 1 in the mainboard and Slaughter Pact in the sideboard. We could have another Darkness or Silence. Thoughts?
4.4) In general also, having a second win condition in the sideboard could be considered. Something like Laboratory Maniac.
Comments are welcomed and experiences about such a deck also!
eAlphax, thank you very much for the valuable input : it is very informative, yet constructive. It is appreciated and it motivates me to make the deck better (if viable someday). I recognize my lack of knowledge about some of the current Legacy decks as I dived into the format this Summer with another non-interactive combo deck, Manaless Dredge. Therefore, I'd like to discuss some issues you pointed out in order to enhance the deckbuilding process.
Win condition: I didn't read the Oracle text properly and thank you for pointing out its flaws in the current build. I'll bring back Sickening Dreams and cut off the 3 Simian Spirit Guide.
Deck philosophy:
1) You're absolutely right when saying the deck is slow, a two card combo deck probably needing 3-4 turns to get everything and then comboing off. The comparision with DDFT is great because it's a deck that I enjoy seeing and I'm familiar with, my best fellow playtesting friend being on ANT and talking about DDFT and its upside when compared to TES or ANT. However, I still think it's possible to assemble a two card combo on turn 2-3, but the mainboard needs to be revised seriously then. I made the mistake of trying to make a Legacy version of Modern Ad Nauseam : I'm now thinking about Legacy Ad Nauseam.
2) I'm conscious about rough matchups, but every deck has them. Bad matchups:
- Show and Tell will be a rough matchup and we'll need to make our move before they do to win, because nothing can save us
- ANT or TES as you explained with loss of life with Tendrils of Agony and SBAs checking at the upkeep.
- MUD and its Blightsteel Colossus + Lightning Greaves, killing us with poison counters.
- UG Infect is simply unbeatable (same think as every Infect deck for Ad Nauseam in Modern). Decent matchups:
- Elves because you can use multiple Angel's Grace or even Darkness to stay alive (if we're getting out of the combo pieces) and not carring at all about their army.
- Merfolk and its 4 Force of Will, but surely the 4 Chalice of the Void can be problematic. Favorable matchups:
- Burn which is not a tier 1 deck, but surely the best matchup I think.
- Dredge.
Strangely, Lands seems to me like a decent matchup and Miracles also. I'd have to see against the variety of Delver decks out there (Grixis, BUG and RUG) to evaluate how they can get us down. In all, some good matchups, but also some uphill battles, but where's the fun in having easy wins
3) I over-evaluated the instant speed importance in the deck design. In Modern, it's the most important aspect of Ad Nauseam, but in Legacy, aside Solidarity (which I find hilariously close to the philosophy of Modern Ad Nauseam), instant speed combo is not part of the plan of the best decks out there. So, by trying to go off at instant speed, because the heart of the combo is instant speed material, I might have obliterated important parts of the possible decks such as Lion's Eye Diamond, trying to storm out in a turn to get the combo the turn we think is our last. So, from now on, ritual speed will be the way to go.
I'll be testing this week at least twice and I'm kind of lost right now thinking about how to get this thing down the path of victory : it can be done, but I have a hard time figuring it out at the moment. Here's what I have in mind for a faster, more explosive combo deck (not sure if it can stick together...):
The changes:
1) 2 Cunning Wish as I'm trying a 2/2 split with Dark Petition. The later can be a -2 mana operation, Cunning Wish costing 3 CMC. In this build, I'm trying to get mana acceleration (Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual and Lion's Eye Diamond) and direct tutoring effect (Infernal Tutor, Cunning Wish and Dark Petition) to get the things I need at a more efficient cost. 3 CMC might be too much for a full playset and the interaction between Infernal Tutor and Lion's Eye Diamond is simply amazing to get us the card we need.
2) Less cantrips, cut down to 6. With rituals and tutors, I guess that I'll go through the deck by finding the combo pieces directly, so it's a shortcut to have a more explosive combo deck.
3) 16 lands mainly because 2 Ancient Tomb could be useful to provide acceleration. I'm really trying to get this one around acceleration and tutoring to assemble the combo.
eAlphax, I'm glad to have have you on board for this deck creation
Protection issue:
First, I want to discuss the issue in cutting the 4 Pact of Negation in the mainboard. Honestly, with all the blue counterspells out there in Legacy (Force of Will, Daze, Fluesterstorm, etc.), I just don't see how Ad Nauseam can resolves without any protection. I mean, all you listed in the before section is absolutely true and I agree with why we wouldn't want to use a Pact of Negation. However, the combo needs protection in order to resolves (Angel's Grace will always pass, but Ad Nauseam should face counterspells), so I see three things:
1) We find a way to make Ad Nauseam uncounterable (that's called Boseiju, Who Shelters All).
2) We find a way to protect consistently the combo with tutor effects in order to search for a specific card to protect the combo.
3) We keep the 4 Pact of Negation.
I'm thinking about Mindbreak Trap, but the opponent has to cast at least three spells during the turn, meaning the deck not being instant speed, this cannot help us. It would have solved the counterspells problem about Ad Nauseam.
After the combo resolves, surely, we can Duress them to death to strip their hand and make sure that our win condition is not being countered. So I think we're facing a critical aspect of the deck's competitivity : how to protect the combo consistently and not having dead cards in our hands/deck?
About the interaction with IT-LED: The best sequence is surely Angel's Grace, Infernal Tutor-Lion's Eye Diamond and Ad Nauseam. If it's the other way around, these 8 cards seem like a heavy burden in our gameplan. I have several doubts about it. If this doesn't work out (meaning we have Ad Nauseam in hand with IT-LED), we have to rely on drawing Angel's Grace or using other tutors to get it and there are 8 dead cards. So I only see IT-LED being useful if we have Angel's Grace. I don't think we should follow this path.
Decklist:
The list so far. If we run Cunning Wish, we have to make the most out of it, so :
About the maindeck:
1) I've added 3 Cruel Tutor in place of Preordain. I think it's a great turn 2 possibly with a Lotus Petal to get us the cards we need. I've thought about 3 Lim-Dûl's Vault also, but that seemed weak. Thoughts?
2) I've also kept the 4 Pact of Negation, just waiting to see what we can figure out to make the combo more resilient in terms of protection.
3) No more Infernal Tutor or Lion's Eye Diamond (reference to the section talking about it).
4) There are 4 spots for acceleration and we NEED to find what to put in there. I'm only seing Rain of Filth (going all in during one turn) or Chrome Mox. Thoughts?
About the sideboard:
1) I brought back Boseiju, who Shelters All. I know it's incredibly slow, but it could be so useful against the vast majority of control decks out there. We can't tutor for it unless we add Tolaria West, but that's just maybe me getting back to my Modern roots.
2) I've added Serenity as well as the last copy of Lim-Dûl's Vault.
3) Still unsure about Wipe Away or Echoing Truth.
4) Still unsure about Patrician's Scorn in the sideboard.
Lightning storm would give you back instant victory, but it would require alot of guides (and sufficient lands) in the deck to make it happen. Winning in response to your opponent doing something might help you bait them into casting enough spells to make mindbreak trap useful.
Lightning storm would give you back instant victory, but it would require alot of guides (and sufficient lands) in the deck to make it happen. Winning in response to your opponent doing something might help you bait them into casting enough spells to make mindbreak trap useful.
I think we need to clear off the instant speed mode for this version : it would be a Modern Ad Nauseam in a Legacy environment that is not suited for such things. I think the two main issues at the moment that are separating this deck from being in construction from being competitive is :
1) Having ways to get mana acceleration (better than High Tide or Lion's Eye Diamond that doesn't work well in this deck I think).
2) Having ways to protect the combo. You pointed something very interesting about winning in response to the opponent trying to win, meaning that probably Mindbreak Trap would solve most our problems. But still, we would need a win condition other than Lightning Storm to do so (not adapted to the format I fear and the deck's design also).
I agree about the fact that the ''Silence'' version seems better. The mainboard is very stock and it seems very reliable (somehow close to ANT)! However, I'd like to explore what can be done with Infernal Tutor and Lion's Eye Diamond to make sure to get on paper all of its potential. Here are the scenarios I think about in order to assemble the combo.
Ad Nauseam with IT-LED : this is the problematic scenario. I think our best bet (assuming we have the mana) is to use Infernal Tutor to get another Ad Nauseam, then cast one of them to dig for 10-15 cards hoping to find Angel's Grace or Cunning Wish. After that, Angel's Grace, then Ad Nauseam. I'm not sure if we can crack Lion's Eye Diamond after casting our Ad Nauseam and before it resolves (before we have the whole deck in hand). If we cannot, then it's 3 mana left of the table that we can't use. Average scenario.
Angel's Grace with IT, but not LED : hoping to have a Brainstorm or Ponder to get another one and find Ad Nauseam. If not, pretty much done. Not a good scenario.
LED alone with no combo pieces nor IT : don't do much.
Correct me if I'm wrong in any scenario or if I forgot any of them. It seems to me that IT-LED could be amazing (the case we have Angel's Grace or Cunning Wish in hand), but almost dead cards in other scenarios. I think it needs testing to see if IT-LED is viable, which I'm really not sure in this deck.
I'll be testing probably this week (will talk to a friend of mine after playing tonight considering he knows ANT and Ad Nauseam pretty well). I'll test these two versions :
I think it looks solid : it should fare better than with LED-IT. I'm pretty sure about the lands, the business part and the protection part. I'm still trying to see what could fit in the sideboard. That's what I have this far:
Randomly stumbled upon this thread and think it is fantastic! I recently got rid of Belcher and Oops all Spells and have a few small Legacy things coming up and this is by far the most achievable without spending much.
Looking at this list now, are there anything that could be updated in this build?
I quite like Tom's final list as it's the easiest for me to build
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Decks
Standard: GBGB EnergyGB GRGR EnergyGR
Modern: RBUWAd NauseamRBUW GRGR TitanshiftGR UBLUE STEEEEEELU UR Storm U Turbo Turns
3 Simian Spirit Guide
Spells (41)
4 Brainstorm
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Cunning Wish
4 Dark Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
4 Pact of Negation
4 Ponder
3 Ad Nauseam
3 Angel's Grace
3 Duress
2 Preordain
1 Firestorm
1 Swords to Plowshares
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Scrubland
2 Underground Sea
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Tundra
1 Swamp
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Dispel
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Angel's Grace
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Darkness
1 Patrician's Scorn
1 Silence
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Wipe Away
Discussion about some cards
Creatures :
1) 3 Simian Spirit Guide provide acceleration that could be used to cast Ad Nauseam, on Cunning Wish, etc. I'm pretty sure that 3 is the optimal number, but 4 could be acceptable (but I would need evidence of that).
Spells :
1) Firestorm can go off at instant for only 1 red mana (exiling 1 Simian Spirit Guide). Before that, I was playing with a janky win condition:
Angel's Grace, Ad Nauseam, draw the entire deck aside the last card (you'll see why), 2 Simian Spirit Guide to cast Manamorphose (1 blue, 1 black), Quicken (using the 1 blue), Sickening Dreams (1 black and 1 Simian Spirit Guide).
So I've come a long to see that Firestorm is the best win condition. If you think of something else, please say so.
2) 1 Swords to Plowshares to clear things that couldn't be dealt with. A single Spellskite for example make the whole operation fizzle.
3) Acceleration : 4 Cabal Ritual, 4 Dark Ritual, 4 Lotus Petal and 3 Simian Spirit Guide to get there by turn 3 consistently (turn 2 is bellow average). 15 cards for that is the maximum I'd say.
4) Cantrips : 4 Brainstorm, 4 Ponder and 2 Preordain for 10 cantrips is the good balance for digging in my opinion so far with experience.
5) Protection for the combo : 4 Pact of Negation provide safety for the combo (to protect Ad Nauseam and once it resolves, to counter everything after you've drawn the entire deck) and 3 Duressto disrupt to opponent's hand (in order to avoid hand disruption on our side). Also, 4 Cunning Wish can tutor for protection in the sideboard for longer games.
6) The combo itself : 4 Cunning Wish (for tutoring in the sideboard), 3 Ad Nauseam and 3 Angel's Grace. This gives you virtually 7 pieces for each half of the combo in the mainboard, which is the most consistency you can get.
Mana base : it's pretty straightforward. Having 3 basics is ideal, 8 fetchlands to get the duals and thin out the deck (as well as making perfect Brainstorm and the rest is duals.
Sideboard : the whole concept of the sideboard is to use Cunning Wish to our advantage, so it's almost only instants.
1) Boseiju, Who Shelters All is the ultimate protection which can be brough in for control matchups. Tap it when casting Ad Nauseam and it's a free win.
2) 4 Leyline of Sanctity to protect us against hand disruption.
3) Patrician's Scorn is a must have to destroy Leyline of Sanctity before casting Firestorm. It's a free spell also because of Angel's Grace
4) Things to consider :
4.1) Echoing Truth or Wipe Away? Not sure if the split second is worth it for a 3 CMC over a 2 CMC that could be countered. Thoughts?
4.2) I'm not sure about 2 Dispel. These two spots could become a 2nd Darkness and a 2nd Silence. Thoughts?
4.3) 1 Swords to Plowshares might be overkill here : there's already 1 in the mainboard and Slaughter Pact in the sideboard. We could have another Darkness or Silence. Thoughts?
4.4) In general also, having a second win condition in the sideboard could be considered. Something like Laboratory Maniac.
Comments are welcomed and experiences about such a deck also!
Keep brewing!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Win condition: I didn't read the Oracle text properly and thank you for pointing out its flaws in the current build. I'll bring back Sickening Dreams and cut off the 3 Simian Spirit Guide.
Deck philosophy:
1) You're absolutely right when saying the deck is slow, a two card combo deck probably needing 3-4 turns to get everything and then comboing off. The comparision with DDFT is great because it's a deck that I enjoy seeing and I'm familiar with, my best fellow playtesting friend being on ANT and talking about DDFT and its upside when compared to TES or ANT. However, I still think it's possible to assemble a two card combo on turn 2-3, but the mainboard needs to be revised seriously then. I made the mistake of trying to make a Legacy version of Modern Ad Nauseam : I'm now thinking about Legacy Ad Nauseam.
2) I'm conscious about rough matchups, but every deck has them.
Bad matchups:
- Show and Tell will be a rough matchup and we'll need to make our move before they do to win, because nothing can save us
- ANT or TES as you explained with loss of life with Tendrils of Agony and SBAs checking at the upkeep.
- MUD and its Blightsteel Colossus + Lightning Greaves, killing us with poison counters.
- UG Infect is simply unbeatable (same think as every Infect deck for Ad Nauseam in Modern).
Decent matchups:
- Elves because you can use multiple Angel's Grace or even Darkness to stay alive (if we're getting out of the combo pieces) and not carring at all about their army.
- Merfolk and its 4 Force of Will, but surely the 4 Chalice of the Void can be problematic.
Favorable matchups:
- Burn which is not a tier 1 deck, but surely the best matchup I think.
- Dredge.
Strangely, Lands seems to me like a decent matchup and Miracles also. I'd have to see against the variety of Delver decks out there (Grixis, BUG and RUG) to evaluate how they can get us down. In all, some good matchups, but also some uphill battles, but where's the fun in having easy wins
3) I over-evaluated the instant speed importance in the deck design. In Modern, it's the most important aspect of Ad Nauseam, but in Legacy, aside Solidarity (which I find hilariously close to the philosophy of Modern Ad Nauseam), instant speed combo is not part of the plan of the best decks out there. So, by trying to go off at instant speed, because the heart of the combo is instant speed material, I might have obliterated important parts of the possible decks such as Lion's Eye Diamond, trying to storm out in a turn to get the combo the turn we think is our last. So, from now on, ritual speed will be the way to go.
I'll be testing this week at least twice and I'm kind of lost right now thinking about how to get this thing down the path of victory : it can be done, but I have a hard time figuring it out at the moment. Here's what I have in mind for a faster, more explosive combo deck (not sure if it can stick together...):
4 Brainstorm
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
4 Infernal Tutor
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
4 Pact of Negation
3 Ad Nauseam
3 Angel's Grace
3 Duress
2 Cunning Wish
2 Ponder
2 Dark Petition
1 Sickening Dreams
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
2 Ancient Tomb
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
1 Tundra
The sideboard is to figure out, but for sure (no surprises here...) :
1 Angel's Grace
The changes:
1) 2 Cunning Wish as I'm trying a 2/2 split with Dark Petition. The later can be a -2 mana operation, Cunning Wish costing 3 CMC. In this build, I'm trying to get mana acceleration (Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual and Lion's Eye Diamond) and direct tutoring effect (Infernal Tutor, Cunning Wish and Dark Petition) to get the things I need at a more efficient cost. 3 CMC might be too much for a full playset and the interaction between Infernal Tutor and Lion's Eye Diamond is simply amazing to get us the card we need.
2) Less cantrips, cut down to 6. With rituals and tutors, I guess that I'll go through the deck by finding the combo pieces directly, so it's a shortcut to have a more explosive combo deck.
3) 16 lands mainly because 2 Ancient Tomb could be useful to provide acceleration. I'm really trying to get this one around acceleration and tutoring to assemble the combo.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Protection issue:
First, I want to discuss the issue in cutting the 4 Pact of Negation in the mainboard. Honestly, with all the blue counterspells out there in Legacy (Force of Will, Daze, Fluesterstorm, etc.), I just don't see how Ad Nauseam can resolves without any protection. I mean, all you listed in the before section is absolutely true and I agree with why we wouldn't want to use a Pact of Negation. However, the combo needs protection in order to resolves (Angel's Grace will always pass, but Ad Nauseam should face counterspells), so I see three things:
1) We find a way to make Ad Nauseam uncounterable (that's called Boseiju, Who Shelters All).
2) We find a way to protect consistently the combo with tutor effects in order to search for a specific card to protect the combo.
3) We keep the 4 Pact of Negation.
I'm thinking about Mindbreak Trap, but the opponent has to cast at least three spells during the turn, meaning the deck not being instant speed, this cannot help us. It would have solved the counterspells problem about Ad Nauseam.
After the combo resolves, surely, we can Duress them to death to strip their hand and make sure that our win condition is not being countered. So I think we're facing a critical aspect of the deck's competitivity : how to protect the combo consistently and not having dead cards in our hands/deck?
About the interaction with IT-LED: The best sequence is surely Angel's Grace, Infernal Tutor-Lion's Eye Diamond and Ad Nauseam. If it's the other way around, these 8 cards seem like a heavy burden in our gameplan. I have several doubts about it. If this doesn't work out (meaning we have Ad Nauseam in hand with IT-LED), we have to rely on drawing Angel's Grace or using other tutors to get it and there are 8 dead cards. So I only see IT-LED being useful if we have Angel's Grace. I don't think we should follow this path.
Decklist:
The list so far. If we run Cunning Wish, we have to make the most out of it, so :
4 Brainstorm
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Cunning Wish
4 Dark Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
4 Pact of Negation
4 Ponder
3 Ad Nauseam
3 Angel's Grace
3 Cruel Tutor
3 Duress
1 Burning Wish
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
1 Tundra
2 Silence
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Angel's Grace
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Darkness
1 Lim-Dûl's Vault
1 Serenity
1 Sickening Dreams
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Tendrils of Agony
About the maindeck:
1) I've added 3 Cruel Tutor in place of Preordain. I think it's a great turn 2 possibly with a Lotus Petal to get us the cards we need. I've thought about 3 Lim-Dûl's Vault also, but that seemed weak. Thoughts?
2) I've also kept the 4 Pact of Negation, just waiting to see what we can figure out to make the combo more resilient in terms of protection.
3) No more Infernal Tutor or Lion's Eye Diamond (reference to the section talking about it).
4) There are 4 spots for acceleration and we NEED to find what to put in there. I'm only seing Rain of Filth (going all in during one turn) or Chrome Mox. Thoughts?
About the sideboard:
1) I brought back Boseiju, who Shelters All. I know it's incredibly slow, but it could be so useful against the vast majority of control decks out there. We can't tutor for it unless we add Tolaria West, but that's just maybe me getting back to my Modern roots.
2) I've added Serenity as well as the last copy of Lim-Dûl's Vault.
3) Still unsure about Wipe Away or Echoing Truth.
4) Still unsure about Patrician's Scorn in the sideboard.
Combo scenarios:
It would be nice to see the maths of the mana needed to get the combo (like a couple scenarios). For example:
1) The easy way is having six mana, 1 white and 2 black, for Angel's Grace and Ad Nauseam. After that, either use a Lotus Petal for red and a Lotus Petal for Dark Ritual to get Burning Wish and the rest of the mana for Sickening Dreams.
2) With Cunning Wish for Angel's Grace or Ad Nauseam, we need 9 mana : 1 blue, 1 white and 2 black. After that, either use a Lotus Petal for red and a Lotus Petal for Dark Ritual to get Burning Wish and the rest of the mana for Sickening Dreams.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
I think we need to clear off the instant speed mode for this version : it would be a Modern Ad Nauseam in a Legacy environment that is not suited for such things. I think the two main issues at the moment that are separating this deck from being in construction from being competitive is :
1) Having ways to get mana acceleration (better than High Tide or Lion's Eye Diamond that doesn't work well in this deck I think).
2) Having ways to protect the combo. You pointed something very interesting about winning in response to the opponent trying to win, meaning that probably Mindbreak Trap would solve most our problems. But still, we would need a win condition other than Lightning Storm to do so (not adapted to the format I fear and the deck's design also).
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
No combo pieces in hand (not even Cunning Wish) with IT-LED : We can only get one piece, so we can use Infernal Tutor if we have Brainstorm or Ponder in hand to get another one and dig desperately for a combo piece. If it's Ad Nauseam, then we can crack Lion's Eye Diamond and dig for 10-15 cards to get (Cunning Wish with Angel's Grace or Ad Nauseam). If we hit Cunning Wish or Angel's Grace with our 2 copies of Ponder/Brainstorm, then it's over. Not a good scenario.
Ad Nauseam with IT-LED : this is the problematic scenario. I think our best bet (assuming we have the mana) is to use Infernal Tutor to get another Ad Nauseam, then cast one of them to dig for 10-15 cards hoping to find Angel's Grace or Cunning Wish. After that, Angel's Grace, then Ad Nauseam. I'm not sure if we can crack Lion's Eye Diamond after casting our Ad Nauseam and before it resolves (before we have the whole deck in hand). If we cannot, then it's 3 mana left of the table that we can't use. Average scenario.
Angel's Grace with IT-LED : the best sequence possible with IT-LED! Angel's Grace, Lion's Eye Diamond-Infernal Tutor to get Ad Nauseam. Simple and straight! Best scenario.
Cunning Wish with IT-LED : use Cunning Wish to get Angel's Grace. Then, Angel's Grace, Lion's Eye Diamond-Infernal Tutor to get Ad Nauseam. Great scenario.
Angel's Grace with IT, but not LED : hoping to have a Brainstorm or Ponder to get another one and find Ad Nauseam. If not, pretty much done. Not a good scenario.
Ad Nauseam with IT, but not LED : use Infernal Tutor to get another Ad Nauseam, then cast one of them to dig for 10-15 cards to find Angel's Grace or Cunning Wish. After that, Angel's Grace and Ad Nauseam. Not a good scenario.
Cunning Wish with IT, but not LED : use Infernal Tutor to get another Cunning Wish. Then, get Angel's Grace and Ad Nauseam. Not a good scenario.
LED alone with no combo pieces nor IT : don't do much.
Correct me if I'm wrong in any scenario or if I forgot any of them. It seems to me that IT-LED could be amazing (the case we have Angel's Grace or Cunning Wish in hand), but almost dead cards in other scenarios. I think it needs testing to see if IT-LED is viable, which I'm really not sure in this deck.
I'll be testing probably this week (will talk to a friend of mine after playing tonight considering he knows ANT and Ad Nauseam pretty well). I'll test these two versions :
1)
3 Ad Nauseam
3 Angel's Grace
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
Cantrip/Tutor
4 Brainstorm
4 Infernal Tutor
4 Ponder
3 Cunning Wish
1 Lim-Dûl's Vault
1 Burning Wish
4 Silence
2 Orim's Chant
Lands
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea
2 Tundra
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
2)
3 Ad Nauseam
3 Angel's Grace
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox
Cantrip/Tutor
4 Brainstorm
4 Cunning Wish
4 Ponder
3 Grim Tutor
1 Lim-Dûl's Vault
1 Burning Wish
4 Silence
2 Orim's Chant
Lands
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea
2 Tundra
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Angel's Grace in hand with IT-LED : Angel's Grace, Lion's Eye Diamond-Infernal Tutor to get Ad Nauseam.
Cunning Wish with IT-LED : Cunning Wish to get Angel's Grace. Then, Angel's Grace, Lion's Eye Diamond-Infernal Tutor to get Ad Nauseam.
I used this list:
3 Ad Nauseam
3 Angel's Grace
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
Cantrip/Tutor
4 Brainstorm
4 Infernal Tutor
4 Ponder
3 Cunning Wish
1 Lim-Dûl's Vault
1 Burning Wish
4 Silence
2 Orim's Chant
Lands
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea
2 Tundra
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
I'll go with this the next time :
3 Ad Nauseam
3 Angel's Grace
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox
Cantrip/Tutor
4 Brainstorm
4 Cunning Wish
4 Ponder
3 Grim Tutor
1 Lim-Dûl's Vault
1 Burning Wish
4 Silence
2 Orim's Chant
Lands
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea
2 Tundra
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
3 Ad Nauseam
3 Angel's Grace
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox
Cantrip/Tutor
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
3 Cunning Wish
1 Lim-Dûl's Vault
1 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Silence
2 Orim's Chant
Lands
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea
2 Tundra
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
I think it looks solid : it should fare better than with LED-IT. I'm pretty sure about the lands, the business part and the protection part. I'm still trying to see what could fit in the sideboard. That's what I have this far:
1 Angel's Grace
1 Wipe Away
1 Flusterstorm
1 Swords to Plowshares
Thoughts?
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Looking at this list now, are there anything that could be updated in this build?
I quite like Tom's final list as it's the easiest for me to build
Decks
Standard:
GBGB EnergyGB
GRGR EnergyGR
Modern:
RBUWAd NauseamRBUW
GRGR TitanshiftGR
UBLUE STEEEEEELU
UR StormU Turbo Turns3 Ad Nauseam
3 Angel's Grace
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox
Cantrip/Tutor
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
3 Cunning Wish
1 Lim-Dûl's Vault
1 Portent
4 Silence
2 Orim's Chant
Lands
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea
2 Tundra
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
That's pretty much it.
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R