Maybe Lotus Petal and Swords to Plowshares for the final two spots?

I still think Ad Nasseum could merit an inclusion. It could draw us out of a bad hand. We do have 40 life play with.

With ad nauseum I totally think lotus petal is the right call. And barring a sylvan library ad nauseum in itself isn’t horrible - just high casting cost.

Could definitely see the petal and ad naus in the final two spots.

It maybe me but I love bounce more than another creature removal just because bounce hits any permanent and we only need a turn to win, so eot bounce and win. In blood pod and aven mindsensor heavy metas, stp is probably better

Maybe Tainted Pact or Demonic Consultation as you run no basics? They would be more tutors and could fuel a Lab Man win.

Hmm, perhaps if tainted pact or consultation would work in hulk flash this could be the build; however, still with so many combo pieces and none we want to remove from game or draw, it’s very risky. A fun play is always lab man on table, consult for nonexistent card, and draw for the win. Too bad it’s very narrow.

What happens if Labman gets exiled?

I've thought about this. Unfortunately with the power level and consistancy of cEDH, if your win condition is STP'd or bounced or destroyed to graveyard you've likely lost regardless. The critical turn in cEDH is turn 3, and if one passes that turn without significant board presence or counter defense they've likely lost. It'd be great to run extra cards to account for all scenarios if the games went longer (like running riftsweeper or second wincon) but trying recover and win in a single turn after the disruption is difficult. This deck runs more counters (including misdirection) to provide the highest probably to win the first time going off because they'll unlikely be a second chance. If your meta is slower/staxy then riftsweeper or a second wincon might be correct.

Have you seen the new Gaea's Blessing hulk package? Cephalid Illusionist, Nomads en-Kor, Viscera Seer, Zulaport Cutthroat, Narcomoeba and Gaea's Blessing. Use Flash Hulk to reply and that's all the combo pieces you need.

It's tighter on cards and is more relaxed on land requirements. It also can be deployed at instant speed so it's harder to disrupt.

Haven't seen that package but looks fun! So would cephalid illusionish target nomads en-kor to mill library until narcomoeba enters play, then sac narcomoeba to viscera seer to deal a point of life loss via nulaport cutthroat, and finally resolve gaea's blessing trigger to shuffle library and nacormoeba back to library... rinse and repeat?

This hulk combo uses 3 additional cards (viscera seer, zulaport cuttroat, and gaea's blessing) and could replace 4 cards (dread return, laboratory maniac, hapless research, and grand abolisher). That's definitely lean! What I'm not thrilled about is it doesn't share cards with the hermit druid combo (hermit druid combo shares dread return, laboratory maniac, and hapless researcher), which creates more dead cards if both combos are played.

If a version didn't run the hermit druid combo your suggestion might be the way to go. Thanks for the 'lean' suggestion!

That's it. The joy of the combo package is that you don't have to cut the Grand Abolisher but instead cut the Angel of Glory's Rise. That way you have aline with Hulk where you get Spellseeker (fetching Reanimate), Viscera Seer and Grand Abolisher and then go from there.

Unfortunatley the combo is imcompatible with Hermit Druid yeah, as Gaea's Blessing stops you from milling yourself.

One cool thing about the list though is that you can run Leonin Relic-Warder and Necromancy (as another hulk enabler with Entomb) which helps against cards like Cursed Totem but also forms the schrodinger's cat combo with cutthroat.

But yeah, it comes down to preference. The list you have is very compact so it comes down to which package you want to use.

hey Limejuice your deck is only 95 cards. whats the last 2 if you say pic any 3 as meta choices?

but basically i coment here to say (quote you)"This deck would rather see tutors than card draw/advantage. It's not trying to build a board position or storm count, and simply needs to find specific cards" is an underrated approach /play style. more people should think about that. XD

Maybe Diabolic Intent?

hurricane, I agree and will add diabolic intent.

elfric, I appreciate the nice comment. Thank you! With the four extra slots lets use two by adding ad nauseam and diabolic intent, as hurricane suggested. Sacrificing thrasios to diabolic intent will be a common play with less creatures. This adds potent draws and some gas to the deck.

It's interesting to note that sigi's breakfast hulk deck is morphing closer to a leaner version (removing the muldrotha lines and angel's grace). I still feel that LED/salvagers are bulky and dead draws (and can be answered by creature removal), as is freed from the real if the decks already running three other superior engines (hulk flash, breakfast, and druid).

Updated decklist and comments in description.

In its current state it feels quite strong. Take it for a spin with the playtest button above!

Just found this list. Best version I have seen thus far.

Only thing I'm confused on is merchants scroll. I know it grabs flash and all but I feel like the slot could be dedicated to something better. Don't worry, I'm sure you have your reasons!

Maybe Altar of Bone? It's another tutor...or a pet card that now has no place for me Demonic Consultation.

Thank you IronBlackZepp. In pursuit of streamlining one of the fastest and self-protective decks in the diverse format. Lots of room for improvement with so many 'dead' cards.

Merchant scroll grabs one of three card types - counterspell to either help protect combo while going off or prevent opponent from winning (pact/fow/swan song... the latter two do both while pact is mostly offensive counterspell), bounce removal to enable the combo to win in face of permanent disruption (cursed totem, gravedigger's cage, tormod's crypt, back to basics) or stop opponent from winning (bounce their lab man in response to their draw, etc) via chain of vapor/cyclonic rift, and finally as you said to get flash and just win.

What do you suggest could replace merchant scroll?

hurricane219, really like your suggestion. Before going off don't really need mana elves anymore and it grabs everything you need (hermit druid, hulk, and spellseeker to find flash). Will think about it more. thx

Survival of the fittest seems like a fair trade for merchant scroll.

One other thing. I noticed your list is running hallowed fountain but no tundra. Figured it's something you missed.