Could this combo be playable?
Modern forum
Posted on Dec. 10, 2015, 1:42 p.m. by Postmortal_Pop
Psychotic Episode + Sadistic Sacrament + Tunnel Vision +something to their hand.
First you get a look at their hand and pick a card, then you use Sadistic Sacrament to extract any other copies of that card. Second, you use Psychotic Episode to put the only remaining copy of that card on the bottom of their deck. Finally you name that card with Tunnel Vision and mill every card but that one. They are left with one turn assuming you can't mill that card alone.
Ideas, opinions? Could there be a way to play Tunnel Vision for a cheaper cost? Could this be done earlier in the game? If it could work what kind of deck would you need to run this combo?
All advice welcome, I know this is an off the wall combo but I saw the cards and must had to share this.
Epochalyptik says... #3
That and any deck that plays fetch lands has a natural counter to your win con.
December 10, 2015 2:10 p.m.
That's... 12 mana altogether. For reference, Ad Nauseam + Angel's Grace + Lightning Storm and 3x Simian Spirit Guide costs 6 mana, fetches most of the pieces itself, and is an insta-kill, and it's a fringe Modern deck. I don't see how that deck would be successful other than 6 mana over 2 turns, which would make it one turn slower than Ad Nauseam in the best-case scenario.
tl;dr: Too slow.
December 10, 2015 2:12 p.m.
Dalektable says... #5
...That's twelve mana and fetch lands are run in almost all modern decks. So basically no, no that is not viable.
December 10, 2015 3:01 p.m.
Casual all day but not in any serious modern match up
December 10, 2015 4:28 p.m.
Triforce-Finder says... #7
Well, if you really, really want to play it, the obvious choice would be cost reduction. All three combo parts are sorceries, that should make it easy to find cards like Cloud Key or Blood Funnel that reduce the cost or cards that let you cast them for free as Epic Experiment does.
Of course you'll have to take care of the countermeasures. You will want to add a few cards that make sure your opponent can't force a shuffle, but the obvious choices, Mindlock Orb and Shadow of Doubt, will hinder you too. You'd have to go for land destruction (or Blood Moon) to rule out fetches and would still need to take care of tutors and a whole bunch of other effects that can change the bottom card of the library easily.
All in all, I don't think the combo is worth all that effort needed to make it work, if that is even possible. I mean, any modern deck runs the perfect no-cost countermeasure against this combo by default, and most run several more. On the bright side, I never thought I'd ever get to type the following words:
Dies to Scry.
December 10, 2015 4:58 p.m. Edited.
FalkensteinAZ says... #8
Long story short, not in Modern. If you're into Tunnel Vision, and play Duel Commander or EDH, get a Vendilion Clique deck.
December 10, 2015 6:17 p.m.
Postmortal_Pop says... #9
Triforce-Finder I posted this entire thread in hopes someone would say those 3 words.
December 11, 2015 12:34 a.m.
Working on Triforce-Finder's concept... first, I agree that this is only if you really, really want to play this.
Second, the Epic Experiment option is interesting. You would have to do it for 
= 
or more, and it would have to hit all your combo pieces in those 6 cards. - Doable, and I'd probably splash for 1 or 2. However, I would try for the Vendilion Clique at end of opponent's turn followed by Tunnel Vision on your turn.
The Shadow of Doubt he suggested will not work. - 10/1/2005 If an effect says "Search your library . . . Then shuffle your library," the search effect fails, but you will have to shuffle.
An alternate option is any spell with 'Split Second'. - For example, hitting an Extirpate with your Epic Experiment will let you put it on the stack first. - Then, your opponent cannot cast spells or activate abilities until after your combo has resolved.
Trickbind can also prevent a fetch from occurring... but if they have 2 Fetches, they can still work around it, and it would require having 2 extra mana up... and it won't work with Epic Experiment as there will be no target for it when it is cast.
Extirpate and/or Surgical Extraction can also work as alternate option for Sadistic Sacrament... if they have one in hand you can just leave it there... otherwise leave one in their library and 'keep an eye' on when it is in their hand. While looking through their library and hand, look to see if there is already something they have in hand that is a one-of. - Many decks have one-of's that you should try to keep in mind (including basic land, which Tunnel Vision can name).
Gitaxian Probe is a 'free' way of seeing if they have a 'one-of' in hand, and Vendilion Clique is another way to put a card on the bottom of their library. - Remand can also let you keep a one-of in their hand long enough to send it to the bottom.
There are lots of things you can do to 'work with' the combo... the problems will be 1) using the right combination of cards (many options given), 2) including cards that let you live long enough to get the combo off (cost reduction or control cards), 3) preventing things that 'disrupt' the combo.
December 11, 2015 8:21 a.m. Edited.
Just re-reading Extirpate.
No longer 100% sure it works quite right. - It says to search "for all cards with the same name...", whereas Surgical Extraction says to search "for any number of cards with the same name..."
I think you can still 'fail to find' one or more of those cards... but I can't say for sure.
December 11, 2015 8:40 a.m.
....
Found my own clarification.
It does work.
"701.15b. If a player is searching a hidden zone for cards with a stated quality, such as a card with a certain card type or color, that player isn't required to find some or all of those cards even if they're present in that zone."
December 11, 2015 8:45 a.m.
Triforce-Finder says... #13
I did not suggest Shadow of Doubt. I clearly stated that it will hinder his own strategy. However, good to know that it won't prevent the shuffle either.
Split second prevents all players from casting spells, so you can't pull your combo while a spell with split second is on the stack. Note that Epic Experiment still requires casting of the spells.
MADMatt7777 says... #2
Maybe at a local FNM or over the kitchen table, but I don't ever see this combo breaking into competitive modern. It's too high costed and its 3 cards. Very easily disrupted.
December 10, 2015 1:47 p.m.