This is my budget rendition of the classic combo deck "Cephalid Breakfast." I want this to be as strong as it can possibly be and appreciate any and all suggestions! Sideboard is still under construction.
Combo
With Stoneforge Mystic well outside my budget for this deck, I was unable to include the Kaldra Compleat pivot plan that has become part and parcel of the latest Cephalid Breakfast shells. This version just goes all-in on the combo.
For those unfamiliar with this archetype, the goal is to get a Cephalid Illusionist on the battlefield along with either Shuko or Nomads en-Kor. Targeting the Illusionist repeatedly with the activated ability of either of these cards allows you to mill your entire library in one shot. Among the cards that hit the graveyard are three Narcomoebas, which you can put directly into play. With no cards left in your library, you then sacrifice three creatures for the flashback cost of Dread Return, returning your win condition from your graveyard to play. In this case, that means grabbing Angel of Glory's Rise to bring back Laboratory Maniac, Hapless Researcher, and Benevolent Bodyguard. With the Bodyguard as backup, you can then sacrifice Researcher for the win.
NOTE: The inclusion of Steelshaper's Gift may seem strange when I could just have a full playset of Shuko. I am running this card because it is a cheap way to shuffle away the chaff from a Brainstorm. More discussion of this concept below.
Finding the Pieces
The deck offers 8 sources of library control in the form of Ponder and Brainstorm. While I originally ran Preordain in place of Brainstorm due to the absence of fetchlands in the mana base, this deck often wants specific cards (such as Narcomoeba and Dread Return) in the library rather than the hand for the combo to work optimally. This card can also be fired off in response to a removal spell on Laboratory Maniac to trigger a win. Finally, it's a great way to dig for countermagic or get an Island into hand for the purposes of Foil (the deck's substitute for Force of Will). Thus, I accommodated this card by making adjustments to the mana base, explained next. The deck has a total of 15 ways to shuffle away unwanted cards.
Mana Base
Budget limitations once again have a significant impact here. Without access to expensive fetchlands that can shuffle away unwanted cards from a Brainstorm, I filled my mana base with basics and turned to Ash Barrens and Escape Tunnel to get the shuffling effect. These budget-friendly fetchlands also play a few other important roles in the deck:
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They can fetch the one Swamp in the deck to cast a Cabal Therapy should it get stuck in hand.
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They provide excellent support for the counterspells in the deck (Daze needs an Island in play, while Foil needs an Island in hand).
