Thoughts on the viability of Ad Nauseam?

Modern forum

Posted on June 18, 2015, 5:10 p.m. by KillDatBUG

Hey guys; it's me, KillDatBUG! Some of you might already know who I am, based off the amount of time I've spent lurking the forums here. I'm just an average guy who has a passion for Magic; my most played formats are Standard and Commander.

Anyways, I'm trying to get into Modern at the moment- And when looking at my options, this struck me as... an interesting idea. Now, I'm looking to play a competitive deck that's also not something done to death at my local LGS- The most common decks there are:

Affinity, Twin, Abzan Company, and Tron.

I've been going back and forth on several deck ideas, and I can't really seem to decide on what I want to play. I have enough value to trade for almost any deck (With Jund maybe being just a little bit out of reach ATM); however, trading for a deck would likely take some time.

This deck struck my fancy for two reasons:

  1. It's cheap.

  2. It looks like a really fun deck that no one here plays.

However, I have no idea how good it actually is compared to my other options, such as Grixis Delver, Grixis Control, Elves, etc. What do you guys think?

I tried it out once. I mean, it's great once you get the combo going, but it's a bit weak because it's so reliant on the combo. If you don't get the right cards/draws, you lose.

June 18, 2015 5:13 p.m. Edited.

EmblemMan says... #3

I think elves is viable and kinda interesting. Its nothing compared to the legacy version but its cute. I know that nauseum did well in that GP but i litterally have no idea how it did that well im not even sure how the thing storms enough to kill in this format it just looks like it just doesnt die which isnt enough for me as a deck. Keeping that in mind if you build either of these fast there will be hate probably for them so that sucks. Also keep in mind nauseum did well since everyone sideboarded for tron which i cant imagine does thst much against it. Either way im no pro i could be completely wrong but thats my 2 cents.

June 18, 2015 5:17 p.m.

KillDatBUG says... #4

EmblemMan

If you were wondering how Ad Nauseam kills in Modern, it's relatively simple.

  1. With enough mana (Through Pentad Prism and Lotus Bloom), cast Angel's Grace. Alternatively, have a Phyrexian Unlife in play.

  2. Cast Ad Nauseam. Draw your entire deck, since you can't lose the game this turn.

  3. Exile three Simian Spirit Guides from your hand, then cast Lightning Storm. Discard a bunch of lands, then win the game.

June 18, 2015 5:21 p.m. Edited.

Khanye says... #5

Grisel Cannonis for sale, and is a better combo deck imo, if you are interested.

June 18, 2015 5:22 p.m.

EmblemMan says... #6

Oh ok thanks well that seems ok i suppose but if you want a combo deck i feel like grisel combo and amulet thst can win on turn 1-3 and twin that can win on turn 4 is better it seems a little slow

June 18, 2015 5:31 p.m.

EmblemMan says... #7

Also the fact that it is combo only for the most part is a HUGE hinderance even twin has turned into a beats deck with combo on the side u know? Just kinda showing you the other side trying to give u the biggest understanding in case theres something u didnt see right away

June 18, 2015 5:33 p.m.

Slycne says... #8

Ad Nauseam is kind of a classic Tier 2 Modern deck in the sense that in the right conditions, ie metagame and sideboards, it can dominate a room - see some of the results of the recent GP and some of the last few Pro-Tours have seen decent results.

If you are looking to play slightly off the beaten path combo, I would suggest Storm. The advantage being that even if you end up wanting to switch you have a lot of the Blue/Red staples already, whereas Ad Nauseam invests you into some very specific cards.

June 18, 2015 5:36 p.m.

vishnarg says... #9

If you're stuck on playing combo, Elves is probably your most fun bet.

June 18, 2015 5:55 p.m.

Khanye says... #10

grisel > elves...just saying. There is also zur....but thats an asshat of a deck

June 18, 2015 6 p.m.

KillDatBUG says... #11

I'm not really stuck on playing combo- I'm fine with playing other things, too.

June 18, 2015 6:16 p.m.

Khanye says... #12

dredge? alesha dredge is a blast too

June 18, 2015 6:21 p.m.

I actually ran AdNaus last season with some nice results. It's actually very viable, but when you have the opportunity to run Elves.... well...

June 18, 2015 6:59 p.m.

vishnarg says... #14

Grisel is not better than Elves... I don't know where you get that from. I think R/G Tron is one of the best decks to build - it's fun, easy to learn but hard to master, and will always be a great choice for modern, typically Tier 1.5 although currently it's pushing Tier 1.

June 18, 2015 7:39 p.m.

pumpkinwavy says... #15

I've never thought of it as viable, but it did pretty well at the most recent gp, so I guess it must be viable.

June 18, 2015 7:39 p.m.

This discussion has been closed