Great for 4-player commander using proxies all haveing this deck using the designed sideboard; inspired by Bible Revelations 1: 18 “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”
The basic idea for this deck is to combine various elements that I find fascinating including: storm, counter-spells, card circulation, interference (cards that mess up your opponents strategy), and wheels with a diversity of win-cons designed to be flexible in a range of scenarios.
The original Gary Deck was designed by Gary, a good friend of mine, around EndlessBlackout's original Nicol Bolas's Machinations Engine and had more cards behind this idea like Whir of Invention, Tezzeret the Seeker, and Lim Dul's Vault. Since Paradox Engine has been banned I have taken it a different direction toward different win-cons. I enjoy having outs and being able to wiggle-my-way-out of a situation and surprise gotcha! moments.
_Stages of Use________________________
1:opening hand: check to see if you got a turn one win as explained below; if not then check your mulligan strategy. If not interested in turn one win, (easy opponents, no counterspells), then go for a good hand; if middle or difficult opponents keep reading.
1.1: opening hand sneaky move: do not play a land to get a free discard; use if you have reanimate
Basic Strat
Wheel in order to find the mana rocks; once you got your basic needs like wastenot or a decent draw of money cards (mana rocks) then, move on to 2;
2: Mid strats;
0-storm, then go for Minds Desire for around 4-6 freecasts, usually nets you one direct search and money cards(mana rocks) that are really good.
3: tricks in specific situations
(-)1-tutor for a better tutor strat
0-scouting cards-Gitaxian Probe or Thoughtseize to see enemies strats
1-for easy win lab main use Gitaxian Probe or Gush; for fun win stream-of-consciousness Tendrils of Agony with nearly infinite play potential Timetwister+Echo Of Eons and Next of Fate
2-wierd legacy counterspell trick: Daze
3-free mulligan-Lion's Eye Diamond and Echo of Eons
4-Everything they discard nets you stuff--Wastenot: mana, creatures, lands
5-Put into garbage card with direct search; Entomb; combos with Reanimate and Dark Ritual
6-For getting everything for Free-Omniscience! (warning only cards in hand)
7-Manafold Key combos with Gilded Lotus or Astral Cornacopia or Gilded Lotus or Grim Monolith
Overall Strategy
This deck allows for many combinations. In general, the goal is to wheel into a bunch of mana sources and then keep going. Finding Waste Not early while wheeling is vital. Usually, it's either play a wheel or find a wheel, then dump mana sources, then keep drawing or wheeling.
Storm
This deck is designed to go i.e. sacrifice what you have to keep casting in order to build a strong storm count. Storm counts every spell anyone and everyone has played this turn. After starting to wheel, one can use Paradoxical Outcome to return a bunch of artifacts to the hand to recast them and draw a lot of cards. Same idea: Hurkyl's Recall cast on yourself in order to keep casting (because you have many mana sources that produce more mana than their worth {Helm of Awakening to maximize affect because it reduces the cast of the artifacts by one thus making them even cheaper to use} you GAIN total mana after using Hurkyl's Recall). Sometimes just using a 0 drop like Astral Cornucopia unkicked or an imprint card is good enough to keep the storm going. Try to get Mind's Desire after five or six casts, then finish with what options reveal themselves. Don't forget about Gitaxian Probe for a life sacrifice to keep the storm going.
Wheeling (9 Wheels)
Wheeling is named after Wheel of Fortune, a card that let's you draw a full hand. This deck employs a variety of tricks using this mechanic. Wheel of Fortune and Reforge the Soul (miracle cost baby! (Vampiric Tutor, Imperial Seal, or Mystical Tutor to set it up)) are key to starting a good wheel. Waste Not early and you can wheel your opponents to death using cards like Molten Psyche to finish off your opponents with damage or Tendrils of Agony for life lost.
_Direct Search (9 cards)
This is to maximize probability values in our favor while creating weird combinations.
Cantrip (3 cards)
Here we are trying to maximize our chances of pulling off lab main and increasing our storm count and maximizing our draws.
Notion Thief
This card will make your opponents cry--NO cards in hand for all three, you draw a lot with this when you combo it with WindsofChange
Boardwipe Cards
Here we have Vandalblast to wipe the board of all your ENEMIES artifacts; we have Cyclonic Rift to create fun delay maneuvers; then we have Toxic Deluge to eliminate indestructible creatures; and finally we have Hurkyl's Recall to return all the artifacts your opponents have back to their hands, and then you can use a wheel to make them discard all these artifacts (best use of Hurkyl's Recall return your own cards to your hand for Storm purposes, see Storm explainer).
Mind's Desire
Fun Card. Nuff said. Muahahahaha...
Lion's Eye Diamond
This card creates so many different opportunities in this deck, and I'm always finding new paths. Echo of Eons (for it's flashback cost) and sacking Lion's Eye Diamond allow for a free mulligan of your hand. Sacking Lion's Eye Diamond after you cast a wheel (not all wheels some count how many cards are in hand) permit you to draw cards with three mana in hand. Just having an extra cast for free is immense in this deck for the storm possibilities.
Intuition
The idea for this card for me is to find three cards that no matter what you choose will lead to you getting something good. Three-card Monte with every position gamed. Gary would pick Yawgmoth's Will, Past in Flames, and a card like Waste Not.
Counterspells (9 cards)
Nuff said, have fun :D
Defense
The counter spells combined with the interference spells (interference defined as moves designed to harass the opponent) work to destabilize and cover your tracks. The main interference cards are Opposition Agent combos with Dark Ritual to limit steals or steal a card during a search, Sadistic Sacrament so that you can exile combo cards like win-cons or Tutors, or Praetor's Grasp which allows you to both steal a card and fill a whole in your strategy, and another flash creature Notion Thief. These cards combined with all the recursion due to graveyard effects like Yawgmoth's Will and Reanimate and Past in Flames and the commander KessDissident Mage lead to high spell volume. Cyclonic Rift plus Vandleblast plus Toxic Deluge cover your ass when you get into trouble. Thoughtseize to spy on your opponents strategy and remove an annoying element. Red elemental blast is a nightemare for any blue player as they counter and destroy blue spells and permanents.
Win Cons
1. Laboratory Maniac
Many ways to use Laboratory Maniac but the key card with it is Gitaxian Probe since it just
requires a sacrifice of life
2. Molten Psyche
Wheel into a wheel into a wheel then finish with Molten Psyche
3. Aetherflux Reservoir
Storm combos into Aetherflux Reservoir quite nicely
4. Tendrils of Agony
Finishing move for the storm or Omniscience + Enter the Infinite
5. Manifold Key
Orcish bowmaster + Wheel + Manifold Key. Have fun :D
6. Show and Tell
Lots of potential here Tergrid early or nothing like Omniscience showing up on turn one
7. Omniscience
Show and Tell or hard cast with all the mana produced by Waste Not and mana rocks
8. Isochron Scepter
Combine Isochron Scepter with dramatic reversal, mana rocks, and Tergrid's Lantern and you get
infinite loss of life for everyone else at the table
Turn One Combos
1. Demonic Consultation
2. Show and Tell
1) Demonic Consultation
A. Cards in hand (minimum 6 cards)
i) Demonic Consultation, Gitaxian Probe, Laboratory Maniac, One black mana source, One blue
mana source, Dark Ritual
B. Steps
i) Play a black mana source, a blue mana source, then cast Dark ritual, then cast
Laboratory Maniac, then cast Demonic
Consultation by tapping a black mana naming BobDoletheEnergyCrystal, and thus exiling your
library due to you not having a
card named Laboratory Maniac in your library
ii) Cast Gitaxian Probe for the life cost, causing you to draw a card and win the game due
to Laboratory Maniac
2) Show and Tell
A. Cards in hand (minimum 5 cards)
i) Show and tell, Omniscience, Enter the infinite or a search card such as (Demonic Tutor,
Dark Petition),
One blue mana source, two other mana sources such as (Sol Ring with any Blue Mana source
(land or mana rock), two mana rocks,
or one mana rock and one land or Ancient Tomb, or City of Traitors with a blue mana source)
B. Steps
i) Play a blue mana source, two other mana sources like Ancient Tomb, cast Show and Tell
naming Omniscience
ii) Cast either a search card such as Demonic Tutor to find Enter the Infinite or cast Enter
the Infinite from your hand
iii) Cast Laboratory Maniac and finish with Gitaxian Probe
Enjoy bon appétit!
