For many years I have tried to fight fair in Modern. I’ve built and tuned countless control decks to only find minimal success. After failing to win with the cards that I loved, I came to a realization. I had to fight unfairly.
And among Modern decks, Ad Nauseam combo is the most unfair.
Creatures (5)
Lands (20)
Spells (35)
The Modern format has settled down since the Eldrazi Winter and has leveled out into a diverse place where the top tables of any premier event are a hodgepodge of decks. With the amount of diversity in format, it has become more of a “play what you know” environment. I’ve piloted and tweaked Ad Nauseam since the Eldrazi were dethroned. This is your guide to playing and playing against Ad Nauseam at #SCGORL.
The heart of the combo is casting the namesake card Ad Nauseam while you have Phyrexian Unlife on the battlefield or have cast Angel’s Grace earlier in the turn. This allows you to go into a negative life total and draw your entire deck thanks to the effect of Ad Nauseam. Once you have drawn your entire deck, you can exile three Simian Spirit Guides and cast Lightning Storm, targeting your opponent, and discard lands until Lightning Storm’s damage equals their life total. While executing the combo is simple enough, there are many role-players in the deck that allow it to be so explosive.
While there are only theoretically two cards necessary to execute the combo, most games require two more types of cards to find victory. Lotus Bloom and Pentad Prism are crucial to pulling off the combo in a reasonable timeframe. Modern has often been described as a “turn 4” format, and these two pieces of artifact ramp allow you to combo your opponent on turn 4. Serum Visions, Sleight of Hand, Peer Through Depths, and Spoils of the Vault provide much-needed card selection to get you to the pieces of the combo you are missing. Since there are only four copies of Ad Nauseam in the deck and seven Angel’s Grace effects, these card selection spells are essential to being consistent.
The Pact of Negation and Laboratory Maniac are mostly an insurance policy. Since you win the game on one turn, Pact of Negation is an excellent answer to any disruption your opponent can offer. The downside of having to pay five mana the next upkeep is negligible because there will be no next upkeep step! Laboratory Maniac is a secondary win condition if something happens to your Lightning Storm or awkward situations come up. Since Modern is so diverse, many situations come up when you have to use Laboratory Maniac to win.
Tips and Tricks
The biggest strength of Ad Nauseam is that it can combo kill at instant speed. In most non-interactive matchups, this does not matter. Against decks with counterspells or disruption, it can mean life or death. There is normally no rush to kill your opponent until you know their shields are down. If you are under no pressure, it is normally safer to wait for the opportune moment to combo and gather resources instead. Patience is a virtue in Magic and particularly so when playing Ad Nauseam.
Pact of Negation is one of the most flexible cards in the deck. If you cast Angel’s Grace while the Pact of Negation “lose the game” trigger is on the stack, you do not have to pay the five mana. This lets you aggressively counter threats and hate cards in the early-game if they are disastrous to your gameplan. If you have a Lotus Bloom suspended with one counter and the combo in-hand, you can freely Pact your opponent’s spells because you can put the Pact of Negation trigger on the bottom of the stack (first on the stack, last to resolve) and combo your opponent with the Lotus Bloom mana.
Although normally Ad Nauseam is a consistent turn 4 deck, there is a possibility to combo your opponent on turn 3. You need a Pentad Prism, Angel’s Grace, Ad Nauseam, Simian Spirit Guide, and three lands, two of which enter the battlefield untapped. This allows you to have six mana on turn 3 and combo kill when you see fit.
Playing with Spoils of the Vault is a risky business. It is easy to cycle with myriad scry effects and has nearly no downside when casting it when Angel’s Grace is active or you have a Phyrexian Unlife in play. But there are situations where you need to cast it to find the final piece of your combo without an Angel’s Grace effect. It can sometimes outright kill you or exile all of your win conditions, but I believe it is worth the risk due to its power level and flexibility.
Ordering Serum Visions and Sleight of Hand can seem negligible, but there is some science to it. Normally it is better to cast Sleight of Hand before Serum Visions because it digs you deeper one card for the next turn. Sleight of Hand is also a better turn 1 play because you can get an extra look at finding a Lotus Bloom to suspend immediately. But it is better to play Serum Visions before Sleight of Hand when you need to find a card for that turn. You also always want to play Temple of Deceit or Temple of Enlightenment before you play Serum Visions so as not to waste the scry effect.
While most games are won by casting Ad Nauseam, there is a way to win without it. Laboratory Maniac is the linchpin of this strategy. If Laboratory Maniac is on the battlefield and you control Phyrexian Unlife or cast Angel’s Grace, cast Spoils of the Vault, naming a card not in your deck, and then cast Serum Visions to draw from an empty deck and win.
Phyrexian Unlife is a bit of a confusing card. The most important thing about it is what I like to call the “Phyrexian Unlife Shield.” Once you dip into negatives, you are dealt only infect damage, but as long as you remain at one life, the shield is intact. Casting Angel’s Grace will always make damage only reduce your life total to one, and this is crucial for buying multiple turns in a row. While both cards essentially do the same thing, when used together they can buy you many needed turns to pull off the combo.
In some matchups or strange games, it’s often correct to go for the “value” Ad Nauseam. Casting Ad Nauseam without an Angel’s Grace effect is a risky play but can pay off if done correctly. The situation normally comes up when you are low on gas or have too many copies of Ad Nauseam in your hand. Before placing Ad Nauseam on the stack, it is important to know what cards you want to hit so that you know when to stop.
Sideboard and Matchup Guide
Jund
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This matchup is slightly unfavorable pre-sideboard and slightly favorable post-sideboard. Most Games 1 are dictated by hand disruption spells and the pressure that the opponent can apply with it. The Ad Nauseam player will win most games when the Jund player draws only pressure or only disruption. Post-sideboard, Leyline of Sanctity can easily shut down all of the disruption or a ramped-out Grave Titan can take over the game quickly. Lingering Souls is also excellent at battling against Liliana of the Veil, chump blocking Tarmogoyfs, or in some cases attacking them if they have done too much damage to themselves.
Abzan
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This matchup is very similar to Jund but the pre-sideboard and post-sideboard stats are flipped. Jund is better at applying pressure and backing it up with disruption, but Abzan has access to more punishing sideboard cards. Abzan in Game 1 has less impactful cards such as Grim Flayer and Lingering Souls, but they can trim those for powerful sideboard cards such as Stony Silence and Surgical Extraction.
Tron
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This is one of the easiest matchups for Ad Nauseam. Tron heavily relies on playing trump cards that interact with the opponent, but Ad Nauseam can easily ignore them. Post-sideboard I only sideboard out one Phyrexian Unlife for the Echoing Truth because Phyrexian Unlife can be interacted with and Echoing Truth is a catch-all answer. In most non-interactive matchups you do not want to over-sideboard so that you can keep your deck as sleek as possible.
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This is a rough matchup in Game 1 for Ad Nauseam. They are slightly faster than you at ending the game and they have access to maindeck Thoughtseize. Phyrexian Unlife is the most important card in the matchup as it can buy you multiple turns. Ad Nauseam improves post-sideboard with access to Ethereal Haze and Lingering Souls acting as Fogs and Spellskite providing early blocking and stopping the Become Immense / Temur Battle Rage combo. It is also important to note that you can cast Lightning Storm to kill them if they have brought themselves too low.
Burn
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This is another relatively easy matchup. They are a bit slower than you at ending the game, but most importantly Angel’s Grace and Phyrexian Unlife shut down their main plan of attacking your life total. It is also relevant that you do not do any damage to yourself from your manabase. Post-sideboard they have access to Destructive Revelry, but all of the cards you bring in post-sideboard are backbreaking for their plan. The best card Burn can play against Ad Nauseam is Eidolon of the Great Revel. Even though Angel’s Grace has split second, the Eidolon of the Great Revel’s trigger can still kill you.
Affinity
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This is a coin-toss matchup from my experience. Inkmoth Nexus is the best card they have against you as you cannot interact with it via Phyrexian Unlife or Angel’s Grace. The majority of games hinge upon if they draw Inkmoth Nexus or not. After sideboarding, Lingering Souls gives you a steady stream of blockers for Inkmoth Nexus and Spellskite can dissuade them from activating Arcbound Ravager. It is important to note that Vault Skirge can put them out of Lightning Storm range, so you night have to go for the Laboratory Maniac combo instead.
Infect
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This is Ad Nauseam’s worst matchup in Modern. They are fast, and your key cards Phyrexian Unlife and Angel’s Grace are essentially blank. Post-sideboard you have access to powerful Fog effects, but they bring in extra counterspells which, coupled with pressure, can stymie your gameplan.
Scapeshift/Breach Titan
Sideboarding in this matchup can be tough. They can have access to a bunch of different stuff in the sideboard, such as Slaughter Games, Ancient Grudge, or Chalice of the Void. Overall it’s a great matchup due to you being a bit faster, and their eighteen-damage combo is not good enough. I can theoretically see bringing in Grave Titan against Slaughter Games, and Leyline of Sanctity if they do not show you an alternative win condition.
Bant Eldrazi
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This matchup revolves around Thought-Knot Seer. The recipe for disaster is always disruption and pressure. Bant Eldrazi can do both but only if they draw Thought-Knot Seer. Overall I think the matchup is a bit of a coin toss. Phyrexian Unlife is the best card you can draw against them, as it can buy multiple turns in a row. After sideboarding they can have access to Stony Silence, which can hurt your explosiveness.
Grixis/Jeskai Control
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The control decks in Modern have disruption but lack the pressure to make you act. Pact of Negation is the best card in these matchups, as it allows you to combo off in the face of a counterspell. After sideboarding, the matchup improves more as Dragonlord Dromoka and Grave Titan can win the game on their own because your opponent is forced to sideboard out all of their removal. The Tolaria West and Boseiju, Who Shelters All package also comes in so the opponent can no longer counter Ad Nauseam. It is also important to note that Nahiri, the Harbinger can exile Phyrexian Unlife.
Dredge
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This is another great matchup for Ad Nauseam as Angel’s Grace and Phyrexian Unlife are fantastic against their gameplan. You are just fast enough to normally race their army of mediocre creatures, and they lack ways to interact with you in Game 1. Post-sideboard they have access to Ancient Grudge and Nature’s Claim, which can slow you down, but Ethereal Haze can buy time and Dragonlord Dromoka can stop their entire attack.
Moving forward, I think Ad Nauseam is a great choice for any open tournament such as a Grand Prix or a Modern Open. The deck is so intricate that it is very easy to capitalize on your opponent’s mistakes. There are so many obscure interactions within the deck that most opponents do not know the extent of when and how you can execute your combo. These factors lead to a lot of wins that normally you would lose. Any veteran Ad Nauseam player can tell you of many games won due to their opponents being unfamiliar with how the combo works.
Ad Nauseam is also a very challenging deck to master. Most of the technical play is straightforward, but the minor plays such as scrying and mulliganing correctly are what truly reward the veteran Ad Nauseam player. Good luck at #SCGORL!