Overview:

This Nekusar, the Mindrazer deck focuses on punishing opponents through forced card draw and discard synergies, leveraging damage triggers from permanents like Underworld Dreams and Fate Unraveler. The strategy combines wheel effects (e.g., Magus of the Wheel, Teferi's Puzzle Box) with damage amplifiers like Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might to drain opponents incrementally. While lacking infinite combos, it aims to assemble 2-3 overlapping damage triggers and win via cumulative life loss over 8-10 turns.

Primer:

Core Strategy:
Deploy Nekusar and redundant damage-on-draw effects (Kederekt Parasite, Phyrexian Tyranny) while forcing mass card draw/discard. Key phases:

1. Setup (Turns 1-5): Ramp with Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and land drops. Cast early damage engines (Stormfist Crusader, Sire of Stagnation).
2. Amplification (Turns 5-7): Resolve Nekusar and 1-2 additional triggers (Psychosis Crawler, Raiders' Wake). Protect with Swiftfoot Boots or Lazotep Plating.
3. Execution (Turns 8+): Activate wheels (Magus of the Wheel, Collective Defiance) or sustained draw engines (Teferi's Puzzle Box). Use Ojer Axonil to boost damage to 4 per trigger.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3+ lands and at least 1 ramp/damage engine.
• Prioritize hands with early protection (Swiftfoot Boots, hexproof instants) in removal-heavy metas.
• Avoid hands without red sources for Ojer Axonil/Blasphemous Act.

Key Tips:

• Sequence wheels after establishing 2+ damage triggers.
• Use Waste Not to convert discards into resources.
• Propaganda and Decree of Pain buy time against aggressive decks.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Enchantment Reliance: Loses momentum if key engines (Underworld Dreams, Phyrexian Tyranny) are removed.
• Glass Cannon: Folds to Rest in Peace/Leyline of Sanctity shutting off damage triggers.

Moderate

• Slow Recovery: Limited recursion outside Gixian Puppeteer.
• Mana Inefficiency: High-cost wheels (Forced Fruition, Decree of Pain) struggle against fast decks.

Minor

• Predictable Play Patterns: Relies on visible board-state synergies.

Most Important Cards:

• Teferi's Puzzle Box
• Underworld Dreams
• Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might
• Waste Not
• Phyrexian Tyranny
• Psychosis Crawler
• Magus of the Wheel
• Propaganda
• Sire of Stagnation
• Stormfist Crusader

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 5/10

• Wins via T8-10 incremental damage; lacks explosive combos but accelerates with early wheels.

Resilience: 4/10

• Vulnerable to enchantment removal; limited protection beyond hexproof equipment.

Consistency: 6/10

• 10+ wheel effects and card draw engines compensate for low tutor density.

Interaction: 5/10

• Runs efficient removal (Feed the Swarm, Counterspell) but lacks free counterspells.

Rating Justification:

The deck operates at Casual/Focused Casual levels due to its reliance on visible synergies, moderate interaction, and T8-10 win clock. While redundant in its core strategy, it struggles against fast combo decks and heavy enchantment removal.

Power level: 4.0 - 4.5