This is a competitive Thrasios/Tymna adaptive combo deck. Like all adaptive combo decks, it is built with multiple, synergistic combos in mind, but is also capable of grinding out longer games due to the card draw afforded to us by our commanders. The three combos main combos in the deck are the Auriok Salvagers + Lion's Eye Diamond
"Bomberman" Combo, the Ad Nauseam + Angel's Grace
combo, and the namesake Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter
combo. The deck is heavily interactive, both to prevent opponents from winning before us, as well as to protect our combo once it goes off.
The deck typically tries to accelerate into a
Tymna the Weaver
by turn 2, which hopefully means that on turn 3 we can start drawing off of her ability. The deck tries to assemble one of its combos by turn 4, or at the very least, be able to stave off opponent's combos with our counterspells or removal. However, even if we can't assemble the combo by turn 4 or 5, we can typically hold out into the late game so long as we continue to generate card advantage through either
Tymna the Weaver
or
Thrasios, Triton Hero
's abilities.
The three combo lines all have their own pros and cons, and so it is important to assess the board state before prematurely committing to one combo line. The most straightforward (and least restrictive) line is the Auriok Salvagers + Lion's Eye Diamond
"Bomberman" combo. This combo can generate infinite of all colors, but requires you to discard your hand, leaving you vulnerable while you are generating infinite mana. Once you've generated infinite mana, cast
Thrasios, Triton Hero
, and use his ability to draw until you reach
Walking Ballista
. From here, you can cast
Walking Ballista
for an ungodly large X. Then just use his ability to remove counters to kill all of the players at the table. If this is somehow disrupted, you can either return
Walking Ballista
with
Auriok Salvagers
ability, or dig for another win condition.
Aetherflux Reservoir
is also an easy win condition at this point, since by recasting
Lion's Eye Diamond
, the storm count is very high. By casting
Aetherflux Reservoir
and a 0 CMC mana rock, you will generate unbounded life, and then use
Aetherflux Reservoir
to kill the table. As a last resort, you can always cast
Laboratory Maniac
and draw all of your deck. While this is the most dangerous win condition, you will have your entire deck in your hand, and will be protected by
Force of Will
,
Pact of Negation
, and
Flusterstorm
with a ludicrously high storm count.
The Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter
combo plays out very similar to the Bomberman combo, but requires you to have mana rocks/dorks capable of producing at least three mana (ideally colored mana). The benefit to this line is that, you get to keep your hand throughout the process of generating infinite mana, meaning that this a more "stable" combo. Also, this combo doesn't require any creatures, and therefore is unaffected by any creature removal. Once, infinite mana has been generated, the combo plays out just like the Bomberman line described above. It's also worth noting
Isochron Scepter
can have incredible utility outside of the combo. Some anecdotal examples include Isochron Scepter + Mana Drain
to counter something every turn cycle while simultaneously ramping yourself, Isochron Scepter + Vampiric Tutor
to guarantee having another combo ready next turn, or if you need to lock out one player Isochron Scepter + Silence
does an excellent job of removing one player from the game. Isochron Scepter + Noxious Revival
, could also be used to either repeatedly set yourself up with beneficial draws, or ensuring one opponent isn't drawing gas. Suffice it to say, that the shenanigans
Isochron Scepter
can pull off is limited only by your creativity.
The last combo, and arguably the one that has most influenced the deck construction, is Ad Nauseam + Angel's Grace
. The idea here is that once you have enough mana to cast
Ad Nauseam
and hold priority to cast
Angel's Grace
, you can draw out your deck, cast free mana rocks, and cast
Laboratory Maniac
. Again, by this point, you will have all of your deck in your hand, so
Force of Will
and
Pact of Negation
should be enough to protect the combo. If you really want to play things safe, you can play out your mana rocks, and then cast
Isochron Scepter
imprinting
Dramatic Reversal
and go for an
Aetherflux Reservoir
or a
Walking Ballista
finish. Like
Isochron Scepter
, both
Ad Nauseam
and
Angel's Grace
have utility outside of the combo.
Ad Nauseam
can be used to generate an obscene amount of card advantage early in the game, especially if a
Dark Ritual
is used to accelerate it out on the end phase before your third turn. The deck is built with
Ad Nauseam
and
Dark Confidant
in mind, so the mana curve of the deck is incredibly low, with no card above 5 CMC. As such, you can "safely" draw cards until you are at less than 6 life. However, this is incredibly risky, and if you don't draw into a combo or a way to stabilize your board, you will likely not see another turn. On the other hand,
Angel's Grace
is an excellent defensive card. By preventing your opponent's from winning (and you from losing) at instant speed, your opponents can be caught entirely off guard if they over-committed to a combo, only to have you prevent their victory. Combining Angel's Grace + Isochron Scepter
in the late game can be especially useful for preventing your opponent's from winning unless they can destroy
Isochron Scepter
.
If for whatever reason, any of these combos aren't possible, it is still built in such a way to function as a storm deck with
Aetherflux Reservoir
.
High Tide
can lead to a large burst to our mana pool, especially when combined with cards such as
Frantic Search
.
Yawgmoth's Will
is also a fantastic way to generate a high storm count by chaining together rituals, draw spells, and mana rocks. One absolutely vital consideration when making this playline is to avoid activating
Lion's Eye Diamond
during the turn
Yawgmoth's Will
is active, otherwise
Lion's Eye Diamond
will be exiled along with the rest of your hand. As such, don't expect to
Yawgmoth's Will
into the Bomberman combo.
While this deck isn't as fast as all-in combo decks (looking at you, Breakfast Hulk), this build is definitely more resilient. Another aspect of the deck that I value, is how flexible many of the combo pieces are, and how patience and creativity can lead to play lines that you had never even considered before the game.
