Navigating through stax effects can be a bit intimidating given our lack of answers, but the vast majority we can simply win through with the correct plays.
Taxers:
Card:Grand Arbiter Augustin IV ;
Sphere of Resistance
;
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
;
Thorn of Amethyst
These slow us down at all stages of the game, but aren’t entirely unanswerable when stuck on a creature. Plus, they’re effects we can negate on the combo turn with
Helm of Awakening
. Card:Paradox Engine also helps us here on the storm turn, negating them with just a few rocks on board.
Rules Of Law:
Arcane Laboratory
;
Eidolon of Rhetoric
;
Ethersworn Canonist
;
Rule of Law
These are the true bane of the deck. The worst for us are the two non-creature enchantment versions - short of running some very niche removal (e.g.
Universal Solvent
) we have no real answer to those two, and probably want to slowly work our way towards
Rings of Brighthearth
+
Basalt Monolith
+
Exsanguinate
while keeping an eye open for an opportunity if another opponent removes them. The other two we can answer with our removal, and Ethersworn can be combo'd through as long as we can chain artifacts into
Aetherflux Reservoir
.
Untap Restrictions:
Card:Static Orb ; Card:Winter Orb ;
Rising Waters
;
Hokori, Dust Drinker
These slow us down down, but they don’t interfere with the combo turn, or affect artifact mana other than
Static Orb
. More nuisances than real threats to our plan.
Draw Hate:
Card:Chains of Mephistopheles ;
Notion Thief
;
Spirit of the Labyrinth
Very few cards in our deck actually draw cards, so we can more or less ignore this family of cards.
Enter The Battlefield Tapped:
Card:Blind Obedience ;
Manglehorn
;
Root Maze
;
Frozen AEther
Artifacts entering tapped is problematic for us, lands a little less so for the purpose of our combo turn, but irksome on the turns leading up to it it. Our friends here are
Skirge Familiar
and
Paradox Engine
, typically the former leading to the latter, letting each cast trigger an untap.
Mass Land Destruction
Card:Armageddon ; Card:Ravages of War ;
Sunder
;
Wildfire
;
Decree of Annihilation
More of a tempo swing than stax effect, we weather these spells better than most given our extreme lean towards artifact mana. All but Geddon/Ravages tend to come after we’ve either already won or are out of the game for other reasons.
Tutor Hate
Card:Aven Mindcensor ;
Stranglehold
;
Shadow of Doubt
Search hate is incredibly annoying if we haven't already tutored Ad Nauseam, but not as much trouble if we have. In both cases, we're somewhat the mercy of the topdeck gods, but these effects don’t stop us winning, just assembling that win.
Other Effects
Card:Blood Moon ;
Magus of the Moon
These shut off
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
and
Lake of the Dead
notably, but overall, these don't impede our progress much given our high Swamp count. A good reason for not going overboard on utility lands, however.
Card:Null Rod ;
Stony Silence
Given the largest percentage of permanents in our deck are artifacts, we are are hurt considerably by these, and they tend to push us towards an endstep Ad Nauseam. Two cards that really excel here are
Lake of the Dead
and
Skirge Familiar
. A typical line in this scenario would be end-step Naus into casting Skirge Familiar, into Exsanguinate, into Yawgmoth's Will, into Ad Nauseam, into Exsanguinate for the kill.
It’s worth noting these only shut off activated abilities, so you can still get the lifegain triggers off of
Aetherflux Reservoir
, quite relevant for reusing our Ad Nauseam.
Card:Cursed Totem ;
Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Shuts off
Skirge Familiar
and
Overeager Apprentice
, but affects us fairly marginally otherwise.
Card:Grafdigger's Cage
This affects some reanimation lines involving our general,
Skirge Familiar
, and
Overeager Apprentice
, but little else besides.
Card:Humility
Shuts off our general which is obnoxious;
Skirge Familiar
too, but we run many other tutors besides, and making potential beats 1/1’s loosens up pressure on our life total while making all the staxbears ability-less potatoes. In the average pod, this probably benefits us more than it hurts us.
Card:Kataki, War's Wage
It’s typically worth keeping our good mana rocks alive through this effect, pushing the combo turn slightly later but having more resources available. Affects the combo turn not at all.
Card:Nether Void
At first, this might seem like just an extreme version of the taxers, but its wording is key: it counters the spell, meaning we can still cast it for its printed cost. This is exceptionally important for
Aetherflux Reservoir
and
Paradox Engine
, which have cast triggers. Getting even a couple good rocks in and one of these, then letting lots of our mox spells get countered to generate mana and storm, is often our best escape hatch here.
Card:The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
We barely notice this effect; our creatures don't tend to hang around too long.
Card:Trinisphere
A more severe effect for us than regular Sphere effects. Similar to them, Card:Paradox Engine is great for getting us to a point where that no longer matters. Remember that
Helm of Awakening
and
Jet Medallion
don’t help here.