This is the most fun deck I've built. The deck itself is fun, but I mean building the deck was the most fun I've had doing so. So let's begin with what this deck is and how it works and wins. And that requires detailing the Five Plans the deck has to win.
Also, if you really want to get into the mood of this deck, listen to Outcasts of the Sulphurous Seas by DM Dokuro. I think it fits the vibe of slowing making progress towards a goal that happens out of nowhere, all sneaky-like. Here's a link:
PLAN A
The initial idea I had when brewing this deck was "How can I make the most complex series of interactions that results in victory the second I brought out Atris?" This resulted in Plan A, an "infinite" combo (It isn't really infinite because you can only do it until you don't have cards in your library). Atris, Oracle of Half-Truths starts everything by taking three cards from your library and putting them to better use: In your hand or graveyard. The use in the graveyard stems from Organ Grinder, the main wincon of Plan A. How do we do this repeatedly though? With Displacer Kitten, repeatable blinking of Atris. To ensure we constantly have spells to cast, there are several cards with buyback for cheap, such as Mystic Speculation. Combining this with Intruder Alarm and mana dorks like the Myrs allows us mana to cast those buybackers, as well as actually untapping Organ Grinder.
With Atris, it is important to note that not all cards will go to the bin. That's where Skirge Familiar, Mind Over Matter, and Prognostic Sphinx comes in. Free discard! Skirge Familiar is really nice as it can give us the mana to cast buybackers on the discard. Mind Over Matter is also pretty cool as it can untap either a mana dork or Organ Grinder itself. Value, baby!
What's listed above is the "default" way of this. However, some changes can be made. For starters, swapping out those mana dork(s) for Peregrine Drake works quite effectively, especially when paired with High Tide. With this, just alternate flickering Atris and the Drake.
In case you can't get your hands on your Kitten, you can always use Deadeye Navigator as a replacement effect. This will not work with the Drake, but if your enemies killed your Kitten, chances are they definitely killed the Drake. This does require one more mana, however.
Now, Organ Grinder is quite fun. There can, however, be a more straightforward way of doing this--combat damage. This is where Psychatog comes into play. Replacing the Grinder and the discard outlet--on one singular card! But how to break through? Introducing Kapsho Kitefins. Tap down your opponent's board and then swing in with a massive Atog. What's not to love?
There can be one snafu. What to do if you can't kill everyone at once? Ramses, Assassin Lord is just the answer you're looking for. Making the person Ramses attacked lose makes you win, which is sort of like killing everyone. Alternatively, with all the blinking of Atris, utilize Ayara, First of Locthwain, draining everyone.
And one last thing--in case we need just one mana, we can use Relic of Legends, tapping Atris before they get blinked for one mana of any color.
Unfortunately, your opponents might have something to say about this, particularly the Displacer Kitten or Deadeye Navigator, which are the backbones of this whole operation. So there are other ways of killing your foes. The first alternate is my favorite. Another funky lil weird combo, featuring Lab Rats. There's less variation to do with this one, but you still perform it. It follows the same basic principle as the other one, going Intruder Alarm with dorks, but you get to make rats, which is always fun. You can forgo most of the buyback cost with things like Memory Crystal, Skirge Familiar (provided you have the cards), and Ashnod's Altar. Altar really only works, though, if you don't care about the rat and just use it alongside Ayara, First of Locthwain to drain the table.
Speaking of repeated buybacks with Memory Crystal, how about just flat out doing that? Casting a whole bunch of spells? That's the goal of Plan C: Win using either Tendrils of Agony or Brain Freeze. After all, when spells are slung infinitely, why not use Storm?
For this method, one of the best cards is that Mystic Speculation. Now, for generating mana, we could do the loser route and again use Displacer Kitten and Intruder Alarm and a mana dork, but that's become a bit trite, don't you think? Instead, let's look at more roundabout and convoluted ways to achieve our goals! Eligeth, Crossroads Augur turns that measly Scry 3 into a draw 3, giving us a repeatable Ancestral Recall, and I've heard that card is pretty good. But of course, we're not here to simply have cards in hand. No, let's convert it into mana through Skirge Familiar yet again. We can filter it into blue through Energy Refractor, and now bam! A whole new way of doing something ultimately pointless. Complexly!
The final two plans aren't anything unique or special. Plan D is literally just getting the Atemsis, All-Seeing win. That's the plan. Wowzers! This, too, can be paired with Ramses, Assassin Lord.
For the most part, the extra spicy little tips in Plans A, B, and C can be used in the other ones. One thing I really like this deck is how interchangeable the plans are on the fly.
One fun thing in the deck is that we can play off Atris' ability through cards like Fact or Fiction and Truth or Tale as card draw spells. Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign is great at this, cutting down costs on our sphinges and allowing us to do that often, with all the fun sphinges in the deck.
It's very important the islands are these specific Theros Islands, as the art was drawn by Raoul Vitale, and my inspiration to make an Atris deck came Rhystic Studies' deck from the Season 1 Finale of Shuffle Up & Play, seen here:
The islands in his deck were the Raoul Vitale islands, so they're a bit of homage to one of the greatest videos of a Magic: the Gathering game I've ever seen.
If there's anything else anyone notices that this deck can do, feel free to let me know! I really want to test the limits of what this secretive and all secret-society-like deck has in its toolbox.
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