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     Introduction

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of Tryhard Academy, where it’s always better to Get Good rather than Get Wrecked.

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This time around, we have the first of what we expect to be a number of deck techs hosted here at the Academy.

You’ve heard Jeff talk about it at some length just in passing. And in this episode, he’s going to dive quite a bit into the mechanics and gameplay of a deck that’s been terrorizing the tournament scene at a few different LGS’s for almost the last year.

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Welcome to Ad Nauseam Fishbowl. And welcome to cEDH.

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As a word of warning: This is not the kind of deck that you just play casually. This is the kind of deck you take to a tournament and smash people with.

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In this article, we will be specifically talking about what this archetype is, how it operates (both pre and post Ad Nauseam), what it’s weak to, and other various things related to this deck.

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     1.  What is this archetype?

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The premise of this archetype is simple yet complex at the same time. Kill tables quickly, at the cost of yourself. Just like it says on the flavor text of Dark Confidant, this deck is about “Greatness, at any cost”.

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First, let’s look at the rules text in the card, Ad Nauseam, in its full detail:

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“Reveal the top card of your library and put that card into your hand. You lose life equal to its converted mana cost. You may repeat this process any number of times.”

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Normally in order to facilitate a strategy like this in normal 60 card Magic (especially in formats like Modern), you’d have to have some card that prevents you from losing, like an Angel’s Grace, or have such a wonky deck archetype that the card Ad Nauseam just naturally slips right in there without even so much as a second thought.

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In our case, however, this is EDH. We go big or go home. So we’ve decided to go the latter route, by using our life total as a resource. The way God intended.

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Since we can’t have 4 of the same card, we instead group cards together by deck function. So for example, we group the tutors together separately, except that we also group the reanimation with the tutors; this is because our general can tutor from the command zone, and when we exploit her, we can send her to the yard for reanimation (and thus more tutoring).

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We also group the mana rocks by themselves, and spot removal is grouped together with board interaction. Obviously this doesn’t consider the card draw, but in this deck’s case, we’ve grouped the card draw together separate from all of the tutors in this deck.

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We’ve provided the deck link to this version of Ad Nauseam Fishbowl here. Rather than go over each card separately, we’re going to give you the reader’s digest version so you can follow along with us and find out how this deck works:

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https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/sidistique-version-2-ad-nauseam-fishbowl-variant/

 

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     2. How This Deck Operates.

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First and foremost, this particular cEDH archetype is a Storm Variant. This deck will be casting quite a number of spells on the turn that it combos off.

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In order to get to that ultimate goal of storming off, this deck’s sole purpose is find, and resolve, Ad Nauseam. AT. ALL. COSTS.

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Ok, maybe not at ALL costs, but in ALL ideal situations, that’s what this deck’s purpose is, at its core. And without Ad Nauseam, storming off is quite difficult (but not impossible).

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There are 7 actual real tutors in this deck: Imperial Seal, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Diabolic Intent, Cruel Tutor, Rhystic Tutor, and Grim Tutor. Supplementing our in-deck tutor  package is the general, Sidisi, Undead Vizier, who can exploit herself. This is where the reanimation package comes into play: by exploiting Sid and sending her to the yard, you can then reanimate her, thereby turning your reanimation spells into tutors by proxy.

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This means we have 11 actual Demonic Tutor style cards. And this means, with Ad Nauseam, we effectively have 12 copies of the card Ad Nauseam. Isn’t that dirty?

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Oh you don’t feel filthy enough, you say? Why do you take a look at the mana rock package with us.

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In this deck, we have 19 artifact-oriented sources of mana acceleration and we also have 4 mono black sources of mana production in the form of instants. Those 4 instants are: Cabal Ritual, Dark Ritual, Rain of Filth, and Culling the Weak. Supplementing this are Blood Pet and Overeager Apprentice, which effectively act as mana batteries.

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As for the rock package, the offerings here range from Sol Ring and Mana Crypt, to Mox Diamond and L.E.D., and damn near everything else in between. If there’s a way to ramp between 0 and 2 cmc that’s cost efficient, and efficient in how it produces its mana, it’s probably in here (with very few exceptions). These rocks combined let us get to the 5 mana needed to cast Sidisi, and Ad Nauseam, quickly. (Remember: There’s nothing in this deck over 5 cmc.)

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Here’s the specific list of all of the artifact-oriented sources of acceleration in this particular deck. You’ll notice that Helm of Awakening and Jet Medallion don’t technically produce mana, but since they reduce the cost of spells and are efficient at what they do, they’ve been added to this list here.

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1x Chrome Mox                        1x Coldsteel Heart               1x Everflowing Chalice

1x Fellwar Stone                       1x Fractured Powerstone     1x Grim Monolith
1x Guardian Idol                       1x Helm of Awakening         1x Jet Medallion
1x Lion's Eye Diamond            1x Lotus Petal                        1x Mana Crypt

1x Mana Vault                           1x Mind Stone                       1x Mox Diamond

1x Mox Opal                             1x Sol Ring                             1x Star Compass

1x Thought Vessel

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Chromatic Star, Chromatic Sphere, Expedition Map, and Wayfarer’s Bauble don’t count toward the above list because they don’t per se produce mana; that said, they do deserve some mention. Expedition Map can go find Cavern of Souls or Boseiju, Who Shelters All (to help fight against blue decks). Wayfarer’s Bauble finds an additional basic swamp for that extra little bit of acceleration. Chromatic Star and Sphere help here since they can filter colorless mana and cantrip for us in a pinch.

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          3. Post Ad Nauseam: How do we win?

 

So you’ve managed to resolve Ad Nauseam. Congrats. Does that mean you automatically win right off the bat? Not on your life.

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Part of this deck’s appeal isn’t just winning quickly and consistently through storming off; part of the deck’s appeal is living life on the edge. And that’s one of the risks in playing this archetype. Many new players learning this archetype end up killing themselves at least once off of a resolved Ad Nauseam, and sometimes, you won’t have the necessary amount of mana to even resolve the deck’s one of two primary floodgates, in the form of either Paradox Engine or Skirge Familiar.

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The shorthand slang we have for this is called “bricking”; it’s just like college basketball when you’re trying to drain a 3 from just pass the arc, but it the ball bounces off the rim and backboard. But that’s beside the point; let’s get back to the topic at hand, which is winning.

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In revealing cards off of Ad Nauseam, it’s important to not only pay attention to the amount of life you lose off of Ad Nauseam, but it’s more important to pay attention to what you reveal from Ad Nauseam. This deck, post Ad Nauseam, cares about card quality, not card quantity. Card Quality, in this case, refers to any of the number of mana positive rocks (what we here call “The Hateful Eight”), black mana rituals (like Dark Ritual and Rain of Filth), free spells to cast (like Mishra’s Bauble and Urza’s Bauble), tutors, and either Paradox Engine or Skirge Familiar, which serve as passive mana-generation engines.

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The key number to remember here is 5: At 5 life or less, you run the risk of killing yourself, especially if you haven’t hit either Skirge Familiar or Paradox Engine during your Ad Nauseam resolution. Additionally, this is the amount of mana that you need, at a minimum, from all sources of mana production, in order to be able to create enough of a runway for yourself to get off the ground like an airplane and fly off into the sunset.

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This number increases by anywhere between 2 and 3 black mana, on average, if you’re playing against blue players; this is because of the targeted discard spells that you’ll need to cast, targeting those players, in order to strip counterspells from out of their hand. Defense Grid can also help you here; not only is it good counterspell bait, it also bottlenecks your opponent’s mana by turning off free counterspells like Force of Will.

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Finally, the two important characteristics about this deck are that its speed and consistency are its greatest strengths. In that vein, this deck, more often than not, has a tendency to reward taking risks over playing an overly cautious game. To aid you in this regard, this deck also runs Yawgmoth’s Will, in case somehow, for some reason, things happen and your plans go south.

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          4. The Combo Itself, and Alternative Lines of Play.

 

This is where (Jeff's) deck differs from the traditional pathway of many cEDH variants. This deck not only features Paradox Engine, but also uses it as the centerpiece.

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Let’s look at the rules text for a brief second on this extremely hilarious and busted card:

 

“Whenever you cast a spell, untap all nonland permanents you control.”

 

Now, let’s look at the ruling associated with this card:

• 2/9/2017: Paradox Engine's triggered ability resolves before the spell that caused it to trigger. The ability will resolve even if that spell is countered.

 

What this means, in practice, is that whenever you cast a spell, a triggered ability related to Paradox Engine will go onto the stack on top of the spell you just cast. And that means, unless one of your opponents has a Stifle effect that is repetitively available, on demand, they’re screwed when it comes to the Engine.

 

After you hit 5+ mana, you resolve Paradox Engine, then cast a zero drop artifact, generating a cast trigger for Paradox Engine, which will untap all of your mana rocks. From here, you can start floating mana, then casting cheap or free stuff in order to not only build your storm count, but also generate large amounts of mana.

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Next you use a tutor piece to find Strionic Resonator, which is the next piece of the puzzle (unless you already have it in hand post Ad Nauseam). Remember how Paradox Engine creates a cast trigger? Well, this handy artifact copies triggered abilities:

 

(2), (Tap): Copy target triggered ability you control. You may choose new targets

for the copy. (A triggered ability uses the words "when," "whenever," or "at.")

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With these two combined, that means that as long as you can produce 3 or more mana (preferably both black and colorless mana) from all nonland permanent sources, you will be able to generate infinite mana.

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With infinite mana, you can use general Sidisi to go get the next two cards that you’ll need to secure your victory. Those are Voltaic Key, and Aetherflux Reservoir.

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Why these two? For the following two reasons:

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One -- Voltaic Key will let you untap Strionic Resonator, and with Strionic Resonator plus the Key, you will be able to create two separate sets of infinite cast triggers on Paradox Engine.

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Two -- Since Aetherflux Reservoir cares about cast triggers, you will then be able to filter one of those sets of infinite cast triggers into Aetherflux Reservoir, thereby gaining you infinite life. And with infinite life and Reservoir on the field, your opponents will have no choice but to die.

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          5. Weaknesses: Stax. (F%&#ING Stax!!)

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You probably wouldn’t believe it at first glance, but this deck’s bane is the stax archetype. Not stax pieces en masse, per se, but there are certain stax pieces that just destroy this deck. In this section, we’ll discuss them more explicitly here, what you can do about them, and why they’re a problem. Bear in mind, this is a non-exhaustive list of some of the problems you’ll run into.

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Rule of Law/Arcane Laboratory. F#%& these cards. We’re trying to storm off, nuke the world, and be home in time for Corn Flakes. Get in and get out. These cards are the anathema of this deck. Short of a niche card like Universal Solvent, you’re screwed.

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Cards that are similar to this, specifically Eidolon of Rhetoric, and Ethersworn Canonist, aren’t quite as problematic; they are creatures after all. Spot removal can deal with these two, and Ethersworn Canonist can be comboed through as long as you take the artifact route or you can pick off Canonist in mid combo.

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Gaddock Teeg (Alright, who let Grampa out of the asylum?!). This cranky old bastard shuts off the namesake of this deck. Kill him quickly. Kill it with fire. Between cards like Fatal Push and Slaughter Pact, this old fool won’t be sticking around for long. Other cards that can help you, that aren’t ran in this deck due to deck space, include Deathmark, Tragic Slip, and Vendetta, not to mention a host of others you can probably find using a card search site that are one cmc and less. Just make sure he doesn’t slip into something like Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, or Darksteel Plate, otherwise you’re going to be in for a rough ride.

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There is an exception to this: if you can resolve Ad Nauseam while Teeg is on the stack, and there’s no cheap protective equipment on the battlefield, you’re more than likely going to run into some sort of a targeted creature removal for Teeg, and he won’t be as much of a hassle.

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If however, for any reason, Teeg has resolved, and he has a piece of equipment on him that makes it hard for him to either destroy/exile or target, you’ll need a board wipe that’s CMC 3 or less to kill him. Unfortunately, there’s only six that fit this bill (Virtue’s Ruin, Nature’s Ruin, Perish, Black Sun’s Zenith, Toxic Deluge, and Bontu’s Last Reckoning), and of those six, one of them can’t be used because of how Teeg is worded. This leaves you with the other 5, which are either narrow in nature, or leave you at a disadvantage. (Remember, you’re a storm deck, not a control deck.)

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Stony Silence/Null Rod. These are a pain in the ass to deal with as much of our deck is comprised of artifacts. A typical play line taken to deal with this scenario would be an end-step Nauseam, into casting rituals, into casting Skirge Familiar, into Exsanguinate, into Yawgmoth's Will, into Ad Nauseam (for the rest of your deck), pitching said cards to Skirge Familiar to cast Exsanguinate again, for the kill.

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Kataki, War’s Wage. Though it doesn’t usually affect this deck on the combo turn, this can be a pain for this deck to deal with prior to. Pay for the rocks you want to keep (especially the mana positive rocks), and hold off for a turn or two until Kataki can be dealt with.

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Tutor Hate (Stranglehold, Aven Mindcensor, etc.). Some tutor hate can be dealt with, specifically of the Aven Mindcensor variety. Enchantment oriented hate, however, is another story. In this case, thankfully so, this deck is just faster than most decks, and if nothing else, we can just Vampiric Tutor in response to Stranglehold, to go find Ad Nauseam.

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Tax Pieces (Thorn of Amethyst/Trinisphere/Sphere of Resistance, etc.). These are a pain to deal with, no lie. But thankfully, you do have some options to walk around some of this hot buttered garbage; this is where cost reducers like Jet Medallion and Helm of Awakening come into play. During the combo turn, these issues can be negated with the help of Jet Medallion and Helm of Awakening, along with mana positive rocks. After you hit Paradox Engine or Skirge Familiar, it should be smooth sailing.

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Pithing Needle/Phyrexian Revoker/Sorcerous Spyglass. Either of these three are problematic, depending on what’s chosen to be nerfed. The major concerns for getting hit are Strionic Resonator and Aetherflux Reservoir. In these instances, we go the Exsanguinate route via Skirge Familiar, just like it was mentioned with Stony Silence and Null Rod.

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          6. The Numbers Game: Stacking the Odds in Your Favor.

 

For you statistics and math nerds out there, the secret to this deck’s success is its Hypergeometric Distribution. You’ll see why in a minute.

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As it relates to the percentage chances of likelihood of getting certain cards, the likelihood you’ll come across exactly 1 mana rock in your starting 7 is just over 38%, and the likelihood that you’ll have more than one mana rock in your starting 7 is just over 40%. That means that around 78% of the time, you’ll start with 1 or more mana rocks in your starting 7, which is unheard of for most EDH decks.

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By turn 3, accounting for the change in sample size (from 7 to 10, which accounts for the card draw associated with each of those turns), those numbers change to 28% and 61% respectively, changing the math to an 89% likelihood that by turn 3 that you’ll have one or more mana rocks in your hand.

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Now let’s look at Ad Nauseam, alongside all of the tutors, which effectively count toward having an Ad Nauseam in hand. In your starting 7, based on how this deck is configured, this deck has a 40% chance of having 1 Ad Nauseam (or tutor) in hand at the beginning and a 20% chance of having more than 1 Ad Nauseam in hand. That means, between the tutors and the Ad Nauseam itself, there’s a 60% chance, roughly, that you’ll have Ad Nauseam, or a way to go get it, in your starting hand. As for turn 3, those numbers change to 39.5% and 34.8% respectively, changing the math to 74.3% roughly, due to rounding.

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In the Works Cited section, we’ve included two hyperlinks for your convenience; one to a hypergeometric distribution calculator, and another linking to a SaffronOlive article related to Hypergeometric Distribution, dated June 2, 2017.

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          7. Conclusion

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In this article, we’ve covered quite a bit of ground as it relates to this deck, to include its strengths and weaknesses.

In conclusion, if you like storm and you like winning quickly and consistently, this deck is definitely worth taking for a spin. Against fast combo decks, both with and without blue in them, you’re still favored just because of how fast and consistent this deck is.

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At this time, I’d like to give credit to Sugandaraja of the Lab Maniacs (known as Nakhla on TappedOut) for posting their deck list, which served as inspiration for my version of Ad Nauseam Fishbowl. For convenience, I’ve also listed that person’s version of ANF, which is posted on the Lab Maniacs Deck Conglomerate.

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If you liked this episode of Tryhard Academy and want to see more content like this, feel free to like and share this content with your fellow players. And as always, it’s always better to Get Good rather than Get Wrecked.

 

See you next time.

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Works Cited

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http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/sidistique-sidisis-sickening-dreams-edh/

→ Original version of Ad Nauseam featuring Sickening Dreams.

 

https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/sidistique-version-2-ad-nauseam-fishbowl-variant/

→ New version of Ad Nauseam, now Ad Nauseam Fishbowl.

 

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/sidisis-reign-of-filth/

→ Lab Maniacs version of Ad Nauseam Fishbowl, courtesy of Lab Maniacs (created by Nakhla)

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/LabManiacs/comments/5si9gw/competitive_edh_decklist_conglomerate/

→ Lab Maniacs Decklist Conglomerate Page

 

http://stattrek.com/online-calculator/hypergeometric.aspx

→ Hypergeometric Distribution Calculator.

 

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/brewer-s-minute-hypergeometric-distribution-in-deck-building

→ MTG Goldfish Article called Hypergeometric Distribution in Deck Building. Courtesy of SaffronOlive. (Published on June 2, 2017.)

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