Four-color wheels on a budget, so Underworld Breach and Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter
are in, Yawgmoth's Will and Lion's Eye Diamond are out, and Mnemonic Betrayal is the way, as casting our opponent's spells can be done off of unbounded colorless mana. In the event we can generate unbounded colored mana, we just win with oversized homegirl after Animate Dead + Worldgorger Dragon
- just don't get caught in an unbreakable loop - or even the Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter
backup plan.
With a line that can win from a literal board state of just four lands (sometimes fewer), we aren't pressured to win early. We're able to develop on very little mana and then (often pretend to) hold up interaction. We can run out disruption, we can threaten a value scepter, we can tempo out Breya... Our priorities are:
- don't lose the game;
- don't lose a game state that allows Animate Dead to win;
- don't boost a wheel haphazardly, because often a turn with one of our wheels is the play of the game.
There's also just a lot to be learned about our opponents - and often by our opponents - when they react to cards being forced out of their hands. Our exploitation points include:
- estimating opposing resources;
- reading priorities, or at least current mindset;
- gauging skill levels;
- checking budget disparities;
- punishing extensions
Anchoring the deck in U supported by just enough Mardu for Good Stuff eases up our mana base budget - and, really, there aren't enough truly good cards in black, red, and white for this price point anyway. Breya gets mad value off of Prophetic Prism and Arcum's Astrolabe, never mind the fact that they draw our deck when we release the Worldgorger to let us break the loop at will. Going snow allows opportunities for less expensive interaction as well.
There is something to be said about switching to Tymna the Weaver and Kraum, Ludevic's Opus, but that's just Whispering Madness because our budget doesn't allow for hatebears or even the recruiters - and besides, Breya's surviving buddy can be ciphered on after a martyr's trade for commander tax.
Room for spice? We can cast our opponent's graveyards for the win... or we can just do it for value. The core of this deck is fairly compact - it's the animation combo, the wheels and payouts, tutors, ramp, and then tuned interaction. When raising the ceiling, we're tuning it for hate or leaning into Underworld Breach or Isochron Scepter, but when raising the floor, we slot in black tutors and then improve the mana.
Why this isn't nearly as strong as you might think:
- everyone is capable of (even incidentally) main boarding hate that stops both Breya herself and the conventional lines to generating boundless mana to cast her;
- our mana base is so vulnerable, and at so many points... we can afford to float for some time but we really have to pull the trigger sooner than later;
- a wheel won't necessarily end the game right there, putting us in the hot seat;
- budget restrictions mean both our tutor-target ratio and draw density are skewed, because we won't run cards at bad rates
Why we're playing this anyway:
- a dragon loop with Arcum's Astrolabe or Prophetic Prism also draws our deck, so Cursed Totem and Linvala, Keeper of Silence can't stop us
- Breya and wheels let us play proactive main phases despite presenting a reactive presence;
- wheels force huge tempo swings, and presenting that threat makes opponents play sub-optimally, and controlling resource disparity wins games;
- let's play some fair magic
But you could play Thassa's Oracle!
