Arjun, the Shifting Flame combo casual EDH.
The Commander: The sphinx is a particularly interesting commander, that does a Wheel of Fortune like effect (hence the title) on every cast you make. While this seems counter-productive for sculpting our own hands, it does have the benefit of "drawing" us a ton of cards, effectively cycling through out deck, but not necessarily granting any card advantage. We will make use of this "draw" to trigger on draw triggers and (hopefully) go-off on a massive combo win.
The Budget: Interestingly enough, although Wheel of Fortune is the namesake of this deck, and that it very well does deserve a spot in such a deck, it is not actually in this list. This is attributed to price tag attached to wheel (about 46$ at the time of writing), I build this intending to stick to a semi-tight budget. It's no budget deck (less than 50$) but it is still below the 100$ mark (88$ at the time of writing). Disclaimer: no guarantee the prices don't change in the future. Anyhow if anyone wishes Winds of Change, Magus of the Wheel, and Wheel of Fate are all highly recommended options if one has copies or the spare budget. (Probably should change the title... shrug...)
The Wheels: Beside our commander, we will be running wheel like effects as redundancies, in case our commander is having problems hanging around. Mindmoil does the same as the commander, the whirlpool folk Whirlpool Warrior et. al. serves as ETB/Death Trigger cycles, and we will also run Windfall like effects (both one-off and on a stick
Jace's Archivist
ones).
The Re-Cast: Knowledge Pool and Possibility Storm causes 2 "casts" to occur double triggering the commander. They also provide for some Chaos to disrupt opponents, particularly useful for protecting pieces. Note,I would not recommend casting them prior to your commander hitting the field, as they have in the past caused more harm than good when setting up. That being said, these 2 are optional, if you are not a fan of Chaos, feel free to give these a miss.
The Wins: Now we are properly wheeling away, we can make use of that draw for some actual wins. Mill effects like Jace's Erasure and Sphinx's Tutelage would mill out opponents as we cycle our deck. Note that the commander puts your hand back into the library before drawing, making it possible to cycle through the deck without decking ourselves while decking others.
Then we have the direct damage outs Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and Psychosis Crawler. Note that Niv gives us a removal option being able to target creatures. while the crawler is an AOE dealer, if you draw 40 while its on the field, you (should) win even in a multi-player setting.
Then we have some odd-balls: Diviner's Wand resulting in the possible commander or crawler facesmash win (note the wizard subtype on the sphinx), Chasm Skulker squids-everywhere win, finally
Seismic Assault
and a few damage-based-on-hand-size spells like Fateful Showdown. The last two groups of wins seem awkward since the commander doesn't actually give card advantage, hence we need to fix (or break) that. Introducing...
The Broken Draws: Thought Reflection and Alhammarret's Archive break the symmetry of the commander's draw, effectively loading our hand a ever increasing rates. These should theoretically end the game either the turn they come down or the turn after by setting off our wins with massive draws fueled by catrip effects like Spellbook and Gitaxian Probe. Do be aware that you can deck yourself with these, as such we will include Obstinate Familiar to prevent that. Also
Seismic Assault
and Elixir of Immortality can act as a moderator to control your draw. I've included
Moonring Mirror
as backup, although far slower and more vulnerable, if push-comes-to-shove, a way to load your hand is better than none at all.
The Game-Plan: The first few turns should be quiet, playing stones, accelerators, utility pieces... If possible, bring in either the erasure or the tutelage early since they are 2-3 drops. In multiplayer settings, this deck should be a non-threat until turn 6-7, meaning you should be able to slip beneath the radar just long enough to set-up. The real game starts when your commander comes in, at this point you want to have at least one way of making use of those draws, and start hunting for the double-up draws to go for the win. Using Counterspells to protect pieces while digging away at your deck for wins would help (again I did not include Counterspell, I have less broken versions like Arcane Denial.) I have included also some control effects like Baral's Expertise to slowdown any one getting too aggressive or annoying.
Keep in mind it is possible to win even without the commander, using alternative wheels. It is also possible to win without the double-up draws, albeit a good deal slower. When both your commander and a double-up hits the field, you can assume that everyone on the table will throw everything at you. Ideally you want to go off on the same turn you drop the double-up (cantrips help), which is possible since the commander implies you do have 6 or more lands.
Also keep in mind the trigger sequence, when you cast a spell, the commander's effect goes on top of the spell on the stack, resolving before the actual spell. Keep this in mind when using the double-ups, and timing the cast for the Obstinate Familiar to avoid decking yourself.
The Side-Board: Simple things ,Tormod's Crypt for grave hate (and another cantrip),
Psychic Spiral
to work against mill, Lightning Greaves if commander is in trouble etc...
Possible other inclusions: beside the actual wheels, Teferi's Puzzle Box is also a solid inclusion if you have one, some removal/ boardwipe. Mind's Dilation is a fun one, Forced Fruition is also good if you have one. Consider shaving the red rituals if you need slots, they can be a hit or a miss.
With that said, please do let me know if anyone has further suggestions for the deck, and happy cycling/commandering.
